


Trinity's Fate

by trysomecats



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Blowjobs, Dom/sub, Doms are very controlling in this society, Fluff, Multi, Polyamory, So be warned before you start reading, Spanking, seriously subs don't have much freedom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 05:18:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 43,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5079364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trysomecats/pseuds/trysomecats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a person is sixteen years old, he or she finds out if they are a dom or a sub. Later when they turn eighteen, the name of their soulmate(s) appear somewhere on their body. </p><p>Louis Tomlinson, a sub, fears getting a dom more than anything. </p><p>When his eighteenth birthday approaches and the names Nicholas Grimshaw and Harry Styles, a well known dom couple who are DJs for BBC Radio 1, appear on his arms, Louis panics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Honestly Lou, it won’t be so bad.”

Yes, yes it most certainly would be bad. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, but more importantly it was Louis’ eighteenth birthday.

In other words, he would discover who his dom would be.

Louis already knew he was a sub. On a person’s sixteenth birthday, they form a small circle on their wrist. If the mark is black, then the person is deemed a sub. If the mark is red, that indicates the person is a dom. If the mark is purple, the person is neither, and also damn lucky.

Unfortunately Louis had received a small black circle atop his left wrist on his birthday two years ago. He had been pretty upset about the whole thing, because the idea of being tied down to a dom was terrifying.

A person’s eighteenth birthday is an even bigger deal than their sixteenth one. Once you turn eighteen, the name(s) of your soulmate(s) show up somewhere on your body, but only if they are eighteen or older as well. If not, then the name of your soulmate would show randomly when your soulmate turned eighteen themselves. Once they found you, a permanent connection was made. Perhaps it would have been bearable if Louis had been a dom, but as a sub he considered himself screwed.

A dom has complete legal control over their sub. A dom can decide what his or her sub wears, eats, who they talk to, where or if they work...it was terrible really. But that was this society, and there was no way to stop finding out who your soulmate was.

More than fifty percent of soulmates came in pairs, simply a dom and a sub. Thirty percent came in trios, and twenty percent came in quadruplets. There was no documented case of being connected to more than four soulmates. Either way, tomorrow Louis would turn eighteen and then he would find out who he was destined to submit to.

Louis growled into his phone. “No Niall, you’re completely wrong! I’m not the type to just submit and grovel at the feet of some stuck up dom!”

“That’s not exactly how it works Lou,” Niall spoke again. “It’s...a really special thing.”

“Not all doms can be like Liam!” Louis spat menacingly. Honestly, sometimes it was hard to believe that Liam was even a dom. He had these puppy eyes, and he was so soft spoken most of the time. Louis would have thought Zayn would be the dom to be honest.

Liam, Niall, and Zayn were all soulmates. Liam was a dom, while the latter two were his subs. Louis had been friends with Niall since they were kids. The Irish boy came to Doncaster with his parents every summer and they usually rented out the house across from Louis’. **  
**

Niall had turned eighteen three months ago, and it had only taken five days for Liam and Zayn, who had already been connected for a year, to track him down all the way in Ireland.

Niall lived in London now. Louis couldn’t imagine having to leave your home country and live with people you hardly know. Niall seemed content, oddly enough. Louis spoke to him over the phone quite often, and he also came to visit sometimes on weekends if Liam allowed it, which he usually did. It scared Louis though. What if his dom lived somewhere very far away from home?

“I promise Lou-Lou, you’ll be just fine!” Niall did his best to assure the panicking sub. “Doms aren’t bad, you know that. They protect and love us unconditionally.”

Louis sighed. “They also make us obey. I could get a really mean dom...what if he locks me up and never lets me go outside? What if I die from lack of vitamin D?”

“That’s a bit extreme Lou,” Niall giggled. “I’ve been grounded for a weekend before, but that’s only because I stayed past curfew and Liam was worried. Just get a good night’s rest and call me as soon as your names form!”

With that, the phone hung up. Louis banged his head on the kitchen table.

“Alright darling?” His mother asked as she came into the room to check the oven. Inside was a cake she was baking for Louis’ birthday.

“No,” Louis pouted, stalking out of the kitchen and into the living room. Two of his sisters were listening to BBC Radio 1 as they made Christmas cards for their friends. Louis plopped down onto the sofa to listen. Nick Grimshaw and Harry Styles, the radio’s famous DJ dom couple, were talking.

“...So Christmas is only two days away Harry. Any idea on what you want so I can finish my shopping?”

“I just want our sub,” Harry sighed wistfully. “We’ve been waiting so long! It’d be like a Christmas miracle really…”

“I agree,” Nick sounded slightly more serious now. “You know I love you to the core Harry, but life just isn’t complete without a sub. I want to our family to be whole!”

This was when Louis stopped listening, coming to a sudden realization. What if he got more than one name? What if he got more than one dom?! That would just be horrible. He definitely wouldn’t get any freedom if that was the case.

“I’m not ready to handle life!” Louis shrieked and curled up on the floor dramatically, causing his sisters to giggle.

His mother only sighed as she came back from the kitchen, patting her eldest child on his head. “Louis, why don’t you wait until your actual birthday before panicking?”

“It will be my birthday in like, five hours Mum!” Louis said, checking his phone for the time. Sure enough, midnight would be here way too soon.

“So then don’t start panicking until your five hours are up. Now come help me set the table.”

“You don’t understand Mum, you have a purple circle,” Louis grumbled, but did as he was told and followed her into the kitchen, if only to taste test the homemade frosting his mother was making for his cake.

* * *

Five hours later, Louis officially started to panic. A few minutes after the clock stroked midnight, his right arm was starting to itch. He knew a name was beginning to form. It could take anywhere from minutes to hours for a name to fully emerge upon the skin. Louis angrily shoved his arm under his pillow, contemplating chopping the limb off.

That was when something terrible happened. His left arm began to develop a similar itch! Louis sat up quickly, grabbing his phone and dialling Niall’s number. It went to voicemail, so he immediately tried Zayn’s. Unfortunately the result was the same, and Louis remembered that Liam had some sort of bullshit rule about not using your phone after midnight.

He could go wake his mom, but she would only tell him that there would be nothing to worry about. His little sister’s were too young to even fully understand his situation. There was nobody to talk to, so Louis resorted to opening his laptop and typing, ‘i don’t want a dom’ into the search engine. All that came up were stories about subs running away and resisting doms, and then getting punished. There was nothing useful, only terrible, frightening things!

It was around three in the morning when Louis was finally too tired to keep his eyes open. His arms had still not formed names, but there were big red blotches where they would be appearing. The itching had turned into a bearable throb as he closed his eyes and prayed for time to stop.

Sleep did not consume him for long though. Louis jolted out of a nightmare only two hours later, searching for the switch of his lamp and turning on his light. That was when he realized the new development to his arms. Slowly reading each of the names, Louis repeated them out loud in a daze.

“Nicholas Grimshaw….Harry Styles.”

Two doms. Two famous radio DJ doms.

Louis did the only sensible thing that someone in his situation would do.

He ran.

* * *

“Nick, wake up!”

“Hmm,” The older man rolled over. “It’s too early Harry…”

“Nick, he’s here! He’s finally ours!”

“Huh?”

“Look!” Harry urgently pointed to his wrist, “Louis! Louis Tomlinson! Check your shoulder blades!”

That caught Nick’s attention. He quickly scrambled upright into a sitting position, tugging off his t-shirt. Harry’s name was scrawled in elegant cursive on his left shoulder, but now there was a new name mirroring it on the right.

“Yes!” Harry beamed upon seeing it. “This is...it’s an actual Christmas miracle really, just like I hoped for. We have to go find him. Let’s find him, yeah?”

“Y-Yeah,” Nick agreed, still quite startled. “Let’s get dressed and make some phone calls. I want him...Louis….as soon as possible.”

* * *

“Aww, come on Lou, stop crying. Can I at least see the names?”

Louis didn’t answer Niall, curling further into Zayn’s chest as he sobbed. Because that’s where he drove to, even though it took a few hours to reach London from Doncaster. There was nowhere else he would be able to hide.

“Louis,” Zayn ran a comforting hand through his hair. “Let us see, yeah?”

The smaller boy sniffled, but finally took off his oversized hoodie and wordlessly held out his arms. Both of the other subs looked and their mouths dropped open.

“Wow Lou, those are the guys from BBC! They’re wicked fit! How can that be so bad?”

“B-Because they’re both doms!” Louis finally spoke, hurriedly putting his hoodie back on. “I didn’t even want one, and now I have t-two!”

“Louis,” Liam, who had been watching the entire exchange with calmness, finally decided to speak. “Odds are that your doms are looking for you right now. They’re very well known too, which means they’ll be able to find you pretty quickly with all the connections they have.”

The birthday boy gave a terrified whimper and went back to burrowing into Zayn.

Niall frowned. “We’re trying to make him feel better Li, not worse!”

Liam looked rather apologetic. “I’m just telling you how it is, I’m not trying to scare you. I do, however, suggest going back home and waiting. If they found out you’re trying to hide then it could mean trouble.”

“That is true Lou,” Zayn said. “I wasn’t too keen on becoming Liam’s sub at first either. Trust me, there’s no use in fighting your fate. It will only get you into trouble.”

Liam gave Zayn’s thigh a gentle squeeze, remembering how difficult Zayn had been at first. Thankfully that was all behind them now.

“P-Please don’t make me go home yet! I want to stay here. I refuse to leave!”

Niall hugged onto Louis tight, and Zayn kept stroking his hair.

Liam sighed. “You can stay here for the day, but tonight you’re going home.”

Louis looked grateful. “Thanks Payno, you’re okay for a dom.”

Liam resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “If your doms get angry, don’t come crying to me.”

* * *

Louis left his friends’ at seven. He arrived back to Doncaster around ten, but then stayed out in the cold looking around nearby shops until it was nearly midnight, so hopefully his mother and sisters would be asleep. All day he had ignored his phone, even though his mom had tried calling over twenty times.

It was the worst birthday ever.

When he got home, Louis saw the kitchen light was on and smiled. Usually when he was out late his mom would leave the kitchen light on downstairs for him, which meant she was likely asleep now.

He opened the door, frowning slightly as the fact that it was unlocked, and quietly crept inside. He felt bad really, because his mom had planned out this big birthday dinner with a cake and everything, and he had taken off before she’d even got to find out who his soulmates were, or wish him a happy birthday.

“Louis, darling, is that you?”

The sub froze for a moment, and then felt even worse. His poor mother, she had probably refused to sleep until his return, upset about missing his birthday.

Louis slipped off his shoes and walked toward the kitchen. “Yeah Mum, it’s me. I’m sorry I didn’t answer my phone, I was-”

The sub stopped dead in his tracks once he’d reached the kitchen doorway. His mother wasn’t the only person in the room. There were two men sitting at the table, and Louis recognized their faces instantly. Both of them looked like they’d just won the lottery upon seeing him.

“Louis!” Harry, the beautiful curly haired one with the boyish face, greeted him enthusiastically.

For the second time that day, Louis did the most sensible thing that someone in his situation would do. He immediately turned on his heel and booked it upstairs to his bedroom, slamming the door shut and locking it.

There were several paces of hurried footsteps racing up the stairs. The knob began to rattle.

His mother sounded slightly amused. “Louis darling, please open the door!”

Louis didn’t answer, his mind racing for a way to escape his house, or the country, or the continent. His window would be impossible to climb down, really. The sub settled for hiding under his covers.

He heard his mother apologizing on his behalf. “He’s a good boy, just a little dramatic...he’s just strong-willed really…”

“It’s alright, we understand how he must be feeling about this,” That had to be Nick Grimshaw’s voice. “We’re just very excited. We’ve been waiting for quite some time now.”

“Unlock the door Louis?” Harry asked hopefully, still rattling the knob.

Louis finally felt that something needed to be said.

“G-Go away,” He told them, although it sounded much meeker than he had meant for it to be.

“Please let us in Louis,” Nick spoke to him. “There’s nothing to be scared of love.”

Their pleas continued for a number of minutes, until finally there was silence, and then the sound of footsteps retreating back down the stairs. Louis stayed by his door, listening very carefully. He heard hushed voices for awhile, but finally they stopped. It must have been at least an hour when Louis finally heard his mom retreat into her bedroom for the night.

Had he won the battle for the night then? Had his doms gone home? Louis waited another twenty minutes before making making his decision. He would have to run away before they came back. Louis’ began packing a bag with only essentials; his cellphone, a few sweaters, socks, his laptop…

When he was ready, complete with a backpack slung over his shoulder, Louis gently opened up his door. The hallway was dark, and there was no light coming from the stairs. He slowly crept down them. Everything was dead and quiet, so Louis was sure that they were gone now.

Or at least that was what he’d thought before stumbling over a dark figure who was sitting at the bottom of the stairs.

“Louis,” Harry, who had been sitting on the stairs, jolted. There was movement from the nearby armchair chair, where Nick had been sitting, but he now stood up. For a moment Louis was sure that he could escape since he had clearly caught them off guard.

Unfortunately this proved not to be the case. He tried to run past them, but a pair of strong arms held him in a vice like grip. He struggled, kicking and yelling, but the dom had much more strength than he did.

“Easy Lou,” Harry’s lips were right by his ear. “Just calm down now. Louis, _calm down_!”

His last few words were spoken in an authoritative tone, a pure dom voice. Louis automatically went slack in the taller boy’s arms, still breathing harshly.

“There you go,” Harry praised. “That’s good, just take some deep breaths.”

Louis closed his eyes, suddenly feeling dizzy. He vaguely heard his mother ushering his little sisters, who had woken from the screaming, back to their beds.

“We need to get him back home,” Nick murmured to Harry, reaching out to touch Louis’ cheek.

“No!” The sub’s eyes shot open. “Mum! MUM! Don’t let them take me, please!”

She emerged at the front of the stairs, smiling a little sadly. “Be a good boy Louis, I’ll stop by to visit you soon.”

Betrayal was what Louis mostly felt. The woman who had birthed him, who claimed to love him more than anything in the world, was letting him be forcibly be taken away by two strangers, just because their names appeared on his arms. It was completely unfair, all of this was.

Louis’ betrayal must have shown, because she turned away and quickly left. Louis was in a state of shock as he was promptly lifted bridal-style by Harry and carried toward the front door. Nick grabbed the backpack that Louis had brought downstairs with him and followed them out to the black SUV that was parked in the driveway and- wait, how had Louis not noticed that when he got home? He was so stupid, he could have managed to get away properly if he’d seen the car.

“It’s gonna be good Louis, you’ll see,” Harry told him as he deposited the sub in the backseat and climbed in next to him.

Nick tried to comfort him from the front seat. “We have a dog. Do you like animals?”

Yes, Louis did like animals. He didn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing this though, instead opting to cross his arms and stare out the window. Both names on his arms were tingling; they had been ever since the doms had touched him. That meant the connection was made, so there was no going back now.

“Happy Christmas guys,” Harry suddenly spoke softly. “I think this is the best one yet.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Nick agreed. “And happy belated birthday to you as well Louis. We’ll have to get you a present.”

“That’s right,” Harry’s eyes lit up. “I should bake a cake tomorrow. Do you want a cake Lou?”

Harry didn’t have the right to call him Lou. He also didn’t have the right to bake him a cake, because his mother had already made him a perfectly good one, and it was their faults that he hadn’t been able to eat it. Receiving a present from either dom sounded awful as well.

“I don’t want anything from either of you,” Louis grumbled, stifling a yawn. This entire day had been exhausting, and he’d hardly gotten any sleep. His eyes were heavy and stung from the dried tears that had emerged from his earlier freak out.

Louis rested his head against the cold window glass, closing his his eyes and trying to imagine himself in his warm cozy bed.

* * *

“He’s so light,” Nick commented as he carried the sleeping sub through their home and into the bedroom. Louis was clearly exhausted; dark circles were under his eyes, his long lashes casting over them. “And beautiful too.”

“I hope we weren’t too demanding,” Harry sounded a bit guilty. “I was just so excited, I forgot that some subs feel a little...intimidated, when their doms come around.”

Harry pulled down the covers to their large bed, and Nick deposited Louis in the middle of it.

“It could have gone a lot worse. Doms are supposed to get to their subs as soon as possible, you know that. If we didn’t, who knows where Louis would have ran off too.”

“That’s true,” Harry slowly agreed, reaching out to brush the hair from Louis’ forehead. “It’s a little warm in here. Reckon we should take off his hoodie?”

“Yeah,” Nick agreed. He wanted to cuddle the sub, so he didn’t want him overheated.

Once the hoodie was taken off, they could truly see how skinny and tiny Louis really was. Catching sight of black markings on the sub’s forearm, Nick turned it over and smiled when he saw his cursive signature scrawled out proudly. He leaned down to kiss at the name, feeling Louis’ own name on his shoulder blade tingle cooly. Harry mirrored the action with Louis’ other arm.

Finally they both changed and got into bed as well, cuddling close to their sub from both sides. Despite this, both doms were too awake and buzzing with excitement to consider actually sleeping.

After such a long time, they finally had their long awaited sub. 

* * *

A few moments from his thoughts later, Louis found out that his wish had been granted. He was laying on probably the softest bed in existence. His head was buried into a feathered pillow, silk sheets enveloped his body, two warm arms were wrapped around his middle, and-

Wait, what?

Louis opened his bleary eyes. Suddenly the atmosphere felt very unfamiliar. This was not his bedroom. The room was large and dim, with minimal sunlight pooling through curtains that had been carelessly closed upon two large windows. It also came to Louis’ attention that he was sandwiched between two annoying tall doms who had kidnapped him the previous night, both of them hugging him tightly.

If he wasn’t so comfy and frightened, Louis would have tried to book it again. He couldn’t help but notice how good his body felt though. There was a pleasant tingle running down both of his arms, especially around his new names.

“Lou? You awake kitten?” Nick’s quiet whisper caught Louis’ attention.

Louis wrinkled his nose at being called ‘kitten’, but he found himself answering. “Y-Yeah.”

Besides, both of them had already knew he’d awoken, since he’d tensed up and everything. If he wasn’t so comfy then he might have fought back a bit more.

Nick's hand went through his hair. “How do you feel?”

Louis was feeling a lot right now. He was groggy from just waking up, scared because he was trapped with his new doms whom he hardly knew, furious with his mother for allowing it to happen, cozy and comfy from being snuggled in this wonderful bed...he settled for shrugging his shoulders.

“Sorry it was so rough last night,” Harry, who was awake as well, said. “In a few days your family can come to visit. It’s really important to stay close with your soulmates when you first connect though.”

“You really don’t have anything to fear,” Nick added. “We’ll ease into this whole thing nice and slowly.”

Last night had been anything but ‘nice and slowly’, but Louis could only nod.

* * *

To say that things were awkward was an understatement. After laying in the bed for almost another hour, Harry got up to make breakfast, despite it being late afternoon, because apparently he was a really good cook. Meanwhile, Nick showed him around the house. It was only two stories, but quite spacious and well decorated. It was obvious they made quite a good amount of money working for the radio.

The entire house was decked for Christmas. Garland was strung over the staircase railings and fireplace, and a large tree was decked out with various bulbs and ornaments, presents from friends and family underneath it. There was even mistletoe hung from various points of the ceiling.

The only good thing so far was meeting Pig, their bull terrier. The canine had taken an instant liking to Louis, following him everywhere and snuffling at his feet as he walked. When the tour ended and they arrived at the kitchen, Louis had a question.

“Where are we?”

“London,” Harry answered as he fried eggs and sausage.

Louis perked a little at that. He could see Niall and Zayn much more often now, well, if his doms allowed it.

Both doms kept trying to engage Louis in conversation, probably trying to find out more about him. They also seemed unable to keep their hands off him. Nick would keep touching his hair, and Harry would squeeze his shoulder or rest his hand upon his back. Louis also realized they were being wary of him trying to run, seeing as he’d been so resistant.

“We’re going to discuss some rules now,” Nick announced after breakfast. “Harry and I had a conversation about them on the drive home.”

Harry placed his hand on the small of Louis’ back. “Let’s go sit in the living room.”

Louis had turned tense again. This, the restrictions, was the reason he did not want a dom. It seemed highly unfair for all his decisions being made for him. The sub was not looking forward to these so called rules that were going to be discussed.

“Right then,” Nick clapped his hands together as he and Harry sat on the couch across from Louis, who was perched on an armchair. “Like I said, we’re going to try and make this as easy as possible. First we both want to know why you are so against doms.”

Louis was quiet for a moment, feeling his face grow red. “I’m...I don’t dislike doms. I just don’t want my own doms. I like making my own choices. I don’t think it’s fair for anyone to have their life dictated.”

Nick and Harry looked at each other for a second.

“Louis,” Harry spoke. “Believe it or not, we both understand that. We’re not going to be dictators, but you also have to understand the role between subs and doms. All a dom wants is to keep his or her sub safe. That’s all we want for you.”

“And people aren’t just randomly chosen to be submissives,” Nick added. “Your body chemistry is set for that of a sub. The reality is that you’re going to need a dom. Subs require extra special care, and that’s why they get connected with a dom.”

“It’s still not fair,” Louis protested childishly.

Harry smiled sympathetically. “Fair or not, it’s the way things are.”

“Right then,” Louis closed his eyes. “What are your rules? Lay them on me.”

“Let’s start with your tone,” Nick began. “You have to remember that Harry and I are your doms, which means you have to try and respect us, as painful as that might be for you. Teasing is fine, but we won’t tolerate straight up discourteous behavior.”

That was going to be hard, Louis thought to himself. He was famous for speaking his mind, whether it be polite or disrespectful.

It was Harry’s turn now. “You’re also not going to attend school anymore, and that includes university. Doms work to provide for their subs, not the other way around.”

That one was to be expected. It was rare that a sub got to pursue education farther than secondary school. In a way it was relieving since schooling had never been Louis’ strong point, however he was sure that his days would now be quite boring.

“For the first week, you can’t leave the house,” Harry continued. “It’s not a punishment, but you need to gain our trust. The three of us also need to stay in close contact for a few days to sooth the bond. After a week you can leave the house as long as you’re with Nick or myself. We’ll play it by ear after that.”

Louis resisted an eye roll. So far this was sounding exactly like prison.

“Harry and I are quite easy to get along with, but we aren’t lenient when it comes to discipline. If you purposefully act out or disrespect us then you’re going to get punished, whether it be hardcore lectures, corner time, or spankings.” Nick informed him.

The thought of being punished made Louis shiver. The idea of being spanked or put in the corner sounded absolutely humiliating. He was an eighteen year old man, not a five year old child.

“But we also value communication,” Harry told him. “If you think we’re being unreasonable, you need to talk to us. We’d much rather you tell us how you’re feeling rather than act out. If you follow our rules then you’ll have nothing to worry about Lou. We certainly don’t want to punish you.”

“We also value your privacy,” Nick spoke. “You have your own room to retreat to whenever you need to be alone, but you can’t stay in there longer than three hours at a time. You’ll also be expected to sleep in the master bedroom with us at night. Soulmates are meant to cuddle and have a lot of physical contact.”

That one caught Louis off guard. He certainly wasn’t expecting to be granted his own room, and inside he felt thankful for them taking his privacy into consideration.

“We know you already have a phone, but we’re going to get you a new one and put you on our phone plan,” Nick continued. “And you can keep your laptop, but Harry and I are going to have random intervals to inspect it and make sure that you’re using the internet appropriately.”

What did that even mean?

Harry must have read his mind, grinning. “No porn Lou.”

Oh.

“Right,” Louis sighed. “Is that all?”

“Not quite,” Harry said. “You’re expected to have at least two meals a day with us at the table. But this house is yours now, so you have unlimited access to the tv, books, and video games. Those are really the essentials for now. Any more additional rules will be discussed as they emerge.”

“Speaking of discussions, the three of us are going to have them before bedtime each night,” Nick said.

Louis couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Is that an innuendo for sex?”

“No! It’s exactly like how I worded it. We’re going to discuss any feelings or problems that you encounter with our relationship.”

“Nick has a subscription to _Daily Dom_ ,” Harry snickered, referring to a rather well known magazine that was for doms. “That’s where he got the discussion idea. Apparently talking before bed helps a sub stay on the same wavelength as their dom.”

“It’s scientifically proven,” Nick defended himself. “And you read _Daily Dom_ too Harry!”

“That’s aside from the point,” Harry said, and then cleared his throat. “And Louis...we’re not going to have sex anytime soon, so you don’t need to worry. We would never force that upon you. Nick and I only want you to feel comfortable.”

“A lot of subs get scared about that part,” Nick added. “But that’s only until they become better educated on soulmate relationships and realize that sex is only a small factor of this whole thing.”

That was relieving. Louis couldn’t imagine being forced to have sex. Honestly that was one of the things about a dom that terrified Louis. He had almost zero sexual experience. He’d kissed a girl once in primary school, but that was so long ago. As good looking as his new doms were, he wasn’t keen on letting them fuck him.

“Anyways, tomorrow Nick is going to going to shop for some things for you, like clothes and stuff. Everything is closed today because of Christmas.”

“Okay,” Was all Louis replied with, feeling oddly subdued. That was probably because of the shock of this whole situation. In literally less than 24 hours his entire life had changed.

“Do you have any questions for us?” Nick blurted out, both doms staring at their sub intently.

Louis could only think of one. “Can I go to my room?”

* * *

Louis paced around his room. He had been in here for at least two hours, if not more. He knew that he was going to be expected to go back to his doms soon. Part of him wanted to ask where his things were, such as his laptop and phone.

Finally making a decision, Louis decided to exit his room, closing the door as quietly as he could behind him. He approached Harry first, because not only did the dom have curly hair, but he was also the first one Louis saw.

He felt incredibly awkward, wondering how to initiate a conversation. Luckily the dom noticed him and smiled, patting the seat on the couch beside him. “Hi Lou, come sit with me.”

Louis did so, carefully sitting next to Harry and making sure that there was a few inches between them. Harry didn’t seem to get the memo, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and tugging Louis against him. For a few minutes the sub stayed still as they watched some old Christmas movie, until finally he gathered the courage to speak.

“I have a question.”

Harry looked down at him. “I’m all ears.”

“Can I call a friend?”

The dom paused. “You can. But Nick and I forgot to mention, we want you to go through all of your contacts with us and explain who your friends and any other acquaintances are.”

Louis felt his face heat up in anger, but he didn’t want Harry to change his mind. “Fine. Where’s my phone?”

“In the kitchen on top of the fridge. You can stay there while you talk. Make sure to put your phone back on the fridge when you’re done.”

“Alright,” Louis said, shrugging out of Harry’s hold and venturing down the hall toward the kitchen.

His cell was placed on top of the fridge just like Harry had said. Louis wondered how long it would be until they got him a new phone like they’d discussed. He hoped they wouldn’t dictate who his contacts would be.

Louis called Niall straight away.

“ _Niall_!” He hissed into the phone, keeping his voice down incase one of his doms tried to listen to his conversation. “I’m stuck at their house.”

“Your doms?” Niall perked up. “How is it? Do you think they’d let me over sometime? I’ve always wanted to meet celebrity DJ’s!”

“They literally carried me out of my house,” Louis said. “Mum didn’t even help me!”

“Hey, I’m pretty sure Liam basically did the same thing with Zayn. He also ran away twice, and he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere unsupervised for months! Some subs just have rocky starts. Thank god that wasn’t the case for me. I love adventures; going on a plane with my new soulmates was exciting!”

“Shut up Niall, this is serious!” Louis accidently spoke louder than intended. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Do what your doms tell you,” Niall said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

“But...but I don’t want to!” Louis blurted out.

“There’s nothing I can do Tommo,” The Irish sub told him. “But I promise as soon as you get more settled in I’ll visit. Oh, and Happy Christmas, okay? I need to go now, we’re opening presents soon…”

“Why is nobody helpful?” Louis growled, hanging up on his friend and angrily shoving his phone into his pocket, stalking out from the kitchen. He was about to go back to his room, but he figured his doms wouldn’t approve since he’d only just come out.

Louis wondered how easy it would be to run away. Likely his doms were ready for an escape attempt. They were bigger and stronger than him, and they also knew the territory better. His best bet at becoming a free man was waiting. He would play their game for now...be a good little sub and gain their trust. Then when the time was right, he would act fast and make his escape.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who commented last chapter. I was worried this story wouldn't go far, but I'm pleased that it's successful! Let me know how this chapter turned out!
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains corporal punishment.

To say that Louis was frustrated would be a huge understatement. Niall played this whole thing off as if it were a game, which was still so very baffling to Louis. There was also the fact that physically his body seemed to crave his soulmates. Louis found himself having to grip at the doorway to stop himself from going back to Harry or seeking out Nick. He knew the basics about soulmate connections, but he’d never really believed the fact that your body just becomes drawn to your soulmate after the initial connection.

Finally Louis’ feet dragged him back to the living room. Not only was Harry still there, but Nick had joined him, seemingly done with making some phone calls to their work. It still felt weird to Louis, to see the guys he was used to hearing on the radio every morning in real life. The television had been turned off, both doms watching him walk into the room with complete silence. It was quite nerve wracking to say the least. 

“Come here Louis,” Nick patted the small space between him and Harry on the couch. “Let’s talk some more.”

Louis briefly considered going to the armchair instead, but finally relented and walked over to his doms. He hated how insanely tall they both were; sitting between his doms made Louis feel small and insignificant.

Not one to hold back, Harry pressed his lips to Louis’ temple and wound an arm over his shoulder, while Nick rested his hand on the sub’s thigh. As much as Louis hated to admit it, he found himself sighing in relief from the contact, his body feeling instantly warm and contented with the presence of his doms. Soulmate body chemistry really sucked.

Harry saw a square shaped object in the sub’s pocket and frowned. “Louis, didn’t I tell you to leave your phone in the kitchen?”

Oh shit, Louis had completely forgotten. He was quick to make that known. “I didn’t mean to, putting it in my pocket was an automatic reaction! Besides, I think it’s unfair that I can’t keep my phone with me. What if I want to text someone?” 

“It won’t be forever Lou, just until you get your new phone and we go over your contacts.”

Louis pouted but he dug out his phone, handing it over to the curly haired dom. It was as if both of the doms’ hair represented their status. Harry’s perfect curls and Nick’s gelled up hair were just as intimidating as their heights and dom behavior….so unfair.

“Thanks Lou,” Harry smiled and accepted the phone. “Why don’t you tell us about some of your friends? Who were you talking to on the phone just now?”

“Niall,” Louis answered shortly, upset about the phone situation.

“And who is Niall?” Nick asked when Louis didn’t elaborate.

“A friend,” Louis answered, still being deliberately difficult. His arms were crossed despite still sitting snugly between the older men.

“Describe Niall in three words,” Harry helpfully suggested.

“Irish, crazy, and annoying,” Louis said. “Zayn’s better.”

“Who is Zayn? Is he Niall’s soulmate?” Nick wondered.

“Yes, they’re both Liam’s subs!” Louis was exasperated. “God, this feels like an interrogation!”

“Sorry Lou,” Nick apologized. “We just want to get to know you better. How about we tell you about ourselves instead? You probably know we both work for BBC Radio 1, but I bet you don’t know much else other than that.”

Louis shrugged.

“I called Mum this morning,” Harry said. “She and Gemma are going to come over and meet you in a few weeks, and Nick’s parents are too….your mum is going to stop by at the end of this week.”

That made Louis snort. “As if my mum cares. She didn’t even try to save me!”

“There was nothing to save you from Lou,” Nick informed him gently, but there was a slight warning to his tone. “She only wants you to be happy and healthy, and that means being with your doms as soon as possible.”

The small sub threw his head back, leaning against the couch. Yes, Louis knew he was behaving like a petulant child, but the world just seemed to be against him all the time. He didn’t like Harry or Nick, even if his body seemed to be drawn to them. Besides, Louis had nothing in common with the doms as far as he knew.

“We’re celebrating Christmas and your birthday tomorrow,” Harry spoke up, looking rather desperate. He wanted nothing more than to have Louis happy, comfortable, and accepting of he and Nick. “While Nick goes shopping, you can help me bake a cake.”

“But we should go to bed now,” Nick added, checking his watch for the time. Despite the day being rather mellow and off to a late start, all of them could use more rest.

* * *

 

When Louis awoke the next morning, to say that he was embarrassed would be a major understatement. He was clinging onto Harry, his arms wrapped around the dom as if he were a teddy bear, and his face buried into his neck. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Louis’ legs were tangled with Nick’s, and the dom had an arm wrapped tightly around the sub’s waist. They were basically all sandwiched and cuddled together like a pile of puppies.

Louis jerked out of dom sandwich, rolling over Harry and off the bed with a thump. His bum hit the wooden floor hard and he hissed. The whole situation was even worse because of what Louis was wearing, his boxers and one of Nick’s t-shirts that reached his mid-thigh, seeing as he hadn’t packed any pajamas in his runaway backpack.

“What r’ doing on the floor Lou?”

Louis glared up at the curly haired dom. “Nothing! I’m going to shower.”

He didn’t even bother to ask permission to shower, because what sort of dom would even require that? The bathroom closest to the master bedroom was very nice. It had not one, but four nozzles! It was large enough for three people, which was a bit concerning, and the door happened to be glass. Other than those small factors, it was really nice. Louis could get used to showering here.

Fifteen minutes later, Louis emerged from the bathroom dressed in what he’d wore to bed. He wasn’t going to wear more of his dom’s clothes if he could help it. It must have been quite early, because things inside the house were eerily silent. Both doms must have went back to sleep.

Louis wasn’t tired at all. He went down the stairs as quietly as he could. Briefly his mind thought about how easy escape would be, just being able to slip away while the doms slept peacefully. This wouldn’t work though. Louis didn’t have proper clothes, and he didn’t even have shoes with him. He wouldn’t even be able to get down the whole street if he tried.

Upon hearing someone else downstairs, Pig yipped excitedly, running into the room and licking at Louis’ bare feet.

“Shh, be quiet Piggy,” Louis shushed the dog automatically, resting a hand on the canine’s head. She seemed to understand, immediately shutting up as she continued to snuffle at him. Finally Louis made it over to the rather posh looking couch and curled up on a corner square, Pig jumping up beside him.

The silence was rather unpleasant so Louis turned on the large television, flipping through the channels until he found the morning cartoons. The sub only half watched, more lost in thought than anything else.

He tried to think of good places to go when he managed to escape. Obviously his own home was out of the question, and so was Niall and Zayn’s house; Liam would just contact his doms if he tried to hide there.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Louis was grabbed by a pair of strong hands and pulled into Nick’s lap as the dom took a seat beside him. Louis yelped while Pig gave a happy bark, eagerly making room for her owner.

“Morning kitten,” Nick greeted tiredly, kissing Louis’ damp hair. “You’re up early.”

Louis squirmed in his grip. “Not early enough.”

“Hey now, don’t be grumpy,” The dom admonished. “I _am_ going out shopping for you today after all, so I think I deserve a little more respect.”

“I didn’t ask you to shop for me,” Louis reminded him rather rudely. “I have clothes at home.”

“This is your home,” Nick told him. “And I am one of your doms. You remember our rules from yesterday, don’t you?”

Louis chose not to answer that, though it was obvious he did remember. He also knew that it was customary for a sub to leave most of his or her possessions behind once they lived with their dom. This was because a sub should be solely dependent on their dom, which meant that everything they owned or were provided with had to come from only the dom.  

“Let’s make this day a nice one,” Nick spoke after a moment of silence. “When I get back we can spend the afternoon having some cake, a nice dinner….it can be a lovely day if we give it a try.”

 

* * *

“I used to work at a bakery you know,” Harry informed Louis later in the day as he absentmindedly added ingredients for the homemade cake he was making into a large blue bowl. “I used to want to open my own bakery someday, but then I met Nick and really got interested in the radio.”

Louis, who was sat on the counter watching, felt oddly relaxed. This was most likely due to the fact that there was only one dom in the house at the moment. Louis just felt like he could let his guard down a little; one pair of eyes watching you was much less threatening than two.

“So Nick found you?” Louis asked, genuinely a bit curious.

“Mhm,” Harry cracked an egg into the bowl. “He was a little surprised to find out I was a dom, but we both got on really well. It made the long wait for our actual sub much more bearable...although sex is still always a little awkward.”

Louis had to smirk at that. The thought of two doms trying to have sex without a sub was hilarious, and probably really frustrating for the doms themselves. It was only natural for doms to top. Louis already knew that despite not ever having had sex before, if he ever did reach that point then he would feel much more comfortable bottoming. It was just simple body chemistry, really. Of course Louis still stood by the opinion that nobody should have control of you even if you were on the receiving end of things.

“Nick and I love each other very much,” Harry came over to Louis and promptly lifted him off the counter so that he could reach the cooking oil in the cabinet behind him. “And we love you too of course. Life was alright before, but even though it’s only been two days I’ve never felt more happier.”

Louis stood with his arms crossed. “That’s...good I guess.”

“Mhm,” Harry leaned in to kiss his cheek on his way back to the mixing bowl. Louis resisted the urge to wipe it away. The curly haired dom clearly had no respect for boundaries, but he also seemed so cheerful that it was hard to resist him. Louis almost would have thought Harry to be more like a sub, but then he remembered how Harry had acted when he’d used his dom voice and then carried Louis to their car.

Harry poured the mixture into a pan, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. The dom then passed Louis the bowl and spoon, green eyes shining. “Here, you can lick the batter.”

Louis returned his gaze and offered a small smile as he accepted the remains of the cake batter. Harry looked like he’d just achieved global peace. It was actually quite endearing, Louis thought with a frown. It seemed the more time he spent actually interacting with his doms, the more fond he was growing.

This wasn’t good; If Louis didn’t act soon, he might be stuck here forever.

* * *

Nick returned, along with what seemed like hundreds of bags. That might have been an exaggeration, but there were at least fifteen bags from various stores. Even though Nick had been gone for only four or five hours, Louis found himself feeling relieved at his return. But no, that wasn’t right! He wasn’t supposed to be feeling this way.

Harry, on the other hand, acted as if Nick had disappeared for a month. The two doms embraced one another as they kissed. Louis stood awkwardly in the background until Nick came over to give him a big hug, practically swallowing the smaller sub up in his long arms.

“I got you lots of clothes Lou, and a few different pairs of shoes as well. Try them on and keep whatever fits. We can go shopping for more things next week.”

Louis nodded. “Alright, sure.”

“I also got you a new phone,” Nick pulled out a brand new iPhone. “I already added Harry and I as contacts. We’ll add some more and go over proper phone rules later.”

There was an awkward silence as Louis looked down at all of the bags. Eventually Harry cleared his throat. “Lou, what do you say to Nick?”

Louis felt his face heat up. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem,” Nick smiled. “Are we ready for cake now?”

Harry hadn’t been exaggerating when he talked about his baking skills. The cake was three layers, the inside colored rainbow and the outside covered with a thick layer of blue frosting. Louis’ name was written largely across the middle; It would probably last them for weeks.

The most embarrassing part of the afternoon was when Harry and Nick sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him. Louis had hidden his face in his hands, refusing to blow out the candles until Nick did it for him. As the ‘birthday boy’ Louis was the first to receive a generous helping the cake.

It wasn’t as lively as having a celebration with his mom and little sisters, but it wasn’t as bad as Louis had expected it to be.

* * *

An hour after dinner, Louis was in his own room going through the clothes and other accessories Nick had purchased. He also had his new phone, which was filled with much less contacts than his previous phone had. His new phone rules were simple enough; he could have it with him at all times aside from bedtime, but his doms had full rights to take it away and check his messages anytime.  
****

Louis’ backpack was completely empty, his old clothes having mysteriously disappeared, hanging on the doorknob.

Most of the clothes Nick had bought seemed okay enough. Skinny jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, shoes...nice brands too. The pajamas, which consisted of sleep shorts, looked a little feminine in Louis’ opinion, but they were cotton and seemed really comfortable. He also now had many different boxers, along some interesting underwear that made his cheeks go red. There was also a shower set for him; shampoo and conditioner that was scented sweet like vanilla.

While he was sorting through the different clothes, Louis made an important phone call.

“Zayn, where did you go when you ran away from Liam?”

Louis could literally feel Zayn tense through the phone. “Why do you want to know?”

“I’m just curious,” Louis assured him. Well, the reason he was curious was so that he could avoid doing whatever Zayn did so he wouldn’t be caught like the other sub had been. “You ran away twice, right?”

“That’s right,” Zayn said. “It was a very stupid decision on my part. My pride was hurt at having to answer to a dom. My dream was to go to university….so I tried running away. It’s no use Lou, if your doms don’t end up finding you first, then the police will find you _and_ take you to your doms.”

Louis sighed. “So you basically just gave up?”

“No, I came to a realization,” Zayn corrected him. “Liam wasn’t the bad guy I was making him out to be. He’s gone endlessly to make sure I’m happy. I mean, he even turned the study into an art studio for me.”

“I don’t know what to do Zayn,” Louis confessed. “It’s like my mind is having a war with itself. One second I want to run away, and the next I just want them to hold me. It’s so confusing.”

“Give it a proper few weeks time,” Zayn responded. “Then you’ll feel better. I tried to run off right away, so I didn’t get to feel the bond until I was forced to. But, if you do decide to run away, you have to be _very_ sure and _very_ careful. If your doms find you, it’ll take much longer for them to trust you.”

“Does Liam fully trust you now?”

“I’d like to think so,” Zayn said. “It’s normal for subs to have difficulty adjusting. Liam understood that, but he also had to take precautions. It took three whole months until I could go out on my own, and even then I still had to text him constantly.”

“If I don’t leave soon then I’ll become too attached, too dependent…”

“I’m not going to tell you what to do, but keep in mind that running away from your doms is serious. By law you answer to them Lou. I know it sucks, but in the long run things usually work out.”

“Yeah,” Louis sorted some clothes aside to put in his backpack. “We’ll just have to see about that.”

* * *

 

 

“I can’t wait to bring you to work,” Nick told Louis that night as the trio climbed into bed.

“Oh yeah,” Harry’s eyes lit up. “Our listeners are just going to love you. We’re taking this week off, but once we start up regularly again you can come all the time!”

Being on the radio was actually a really neat idea. Unfortunately that was a thing that would never happen. Once his doms fell asleep, Louis planned to make a quick and stealthy escape. He had his backpack filled with proper essentials this time, and even some money that he’d managed to sneak from Harry’s wallet, which had been sitting dormant on the master bedroom dresser all today and yesterday.

There was another reason Louis needed to run away quickly. Once the public found out who Louis was, what he looked like, and who he belonged to, he would have much more trouble hiding away. Nick and Harry were both the most famous DJ’s of the UK, as both their entertainment and looks attracted thousands of listeners all over the world.

There was only one big problem about this whole thing. Every time Louis pictured himself disappearing into the night, he couldn’t help but think of how devastated the doms would be. Hell, Harry would probably end up crying. It made a lump form in his throat whenever he thought about it too hard.

“C’mere Lou,” Harry pulled the smaller boy into a hug against his chest. “Tell us how today went. Did you like you cake and presents? What about your phone?”

Louis chose his words carefully. “It was...nice. I loved the cake, and everything else was great. I really like my phone.”

Nick started rubbing soothing circles on his back. “Tomorrow we can cuddle and watch films by the fireplace.”

It was difficult not to succumb to Harry’s warm arms and Nick’s beguiling backrub. Louis felt his eyes drooping, which was not supposed to happen. He was meant to stay awake until both doms fell asleep and then make his escape. He just felt so comfortable and sated, like nothing harmful would ever come to him, in the protection of his strong doms…

“That’s it love,” Nick crooned. “You’re such a good boy, get some sleep now.”

Something about being spoken to like that make Louis resist the urge to shiver in excitement. He felt incredibly praised and content as his mind began to drift. All he could feel in both body and mind were his doms. There was no use in trying to stay awake now, as everything was slowly becoming a peaceful dark.

* * *

When Louis woke up to the feeling of sunshine streaming on his face, he basked in the warmth for a moment before mentally cursing as he came to the realization that he had fallen asleep before his doms. When a wonderful smell reached his nose, Louis couldn’t resist opening his eyes.

“Morning lovely,” Harry greeted from beside him. “How would you like some breakfast in bed?”

There was a plate on the nightstand stacked with what looked like chocolate chip pancakes covered in whipped cream, butter, and syrup. Beside the plate was a bowl of fresh strawberries. Just the sight and smell of the food alone made Louis start salivating.

He noticed an absence to his right. “Where’s Nick?”

“Right here Kitten,” Nick emerged from the bathroom in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Louis flushed bright red at seeing the lean but incredibly toned body, averting his eyes toward the pancakes. Harry passed him over the plate, leaving Louis feeling relieved to have his attention focused on something else.

“You’ve been sleeping so good with us,” Harry praised him. “Your mother said you used to have trouble with nightmares before.”

Louis raised an eyebrow as he took a bite of his breakfast. It was a little embarrassing to know that his mother had given his doms information like that. He wondered what else she had said about him.

“Sleeping with doms can do wonders for subs,” Nick smiled as he began changing.

“We’ll protect you from the nightmares,” Harry promised, pulling Louis in front of him so he could start kneading and massaging at his sub’s frail back.

Louis resisted the urge to moan out load. Everything felt so nice. He felt so loved and pampered. Nobody had ever treated him this way in a long time. For as long as Louis could remember, he had always needed to help his mom out with his many little sisters. He hadn’t ever had so much attention aimed toward him before.

“Here,” Harry held a strawberry to the sub’s lips. Louis took a hesitant bite, mouth watering at the taste of the fresh fruit.

Nick and over to the bed and took over rubbing Louis’ back again, with the same motion he had used last night. Louis’ eyes drooped half closed while he was fed and pampered some more. He peeked up to see pure adoration in his doms’ eyes and came to a sudden realization. Harry and Nick really loved him. Even using the world ‘worship’ probably wouldn’t be going too far.

Louis once again went over the many pros and cons of running away. If he were to leave, his life would probably be a struggle. Not many subs were employable unless they had written consent from the dom. He would have to find a place to live, and also go far away from London. He couldn’t even go back to Doncaster. The only pros about running away were being in charge of himself and not getting punished.

If he stayed here, Nick and Harry would always take care of him. They would feed him, buy him things, treat him like royalty and give him backrubs. All he had to do was try his best to listen to them and follow their rules, which were actually pretty easy going compared to other doms’ rules.

As much as he wanted to run away, right now the pros were highly outweighing the cons. Maybe Louis would hold off on his plan. If things ended up going badly then he could always run, but he could at least try to live this new life. If he was well behaved then he would even be able to visit Niall and Zayn regularly, and go out on his own sometimes. If Louis gave his doms his trust, then they probably would give theirs in return.

* * *

This was by far the best day yet. After breakfast Louis had taken a long hot shower. He came out smelling like vanilla after using his new shampoo. After showering Louis had studied himself in the mirror, still naked. The sub ran a hand down his smooth stomach and stopped at his hips. He wondered if someday he would ever let Harry and Nick see him like this.

Louis wasn’t exactly ashamed of his body. He did wish that he was taller and a little more toned. That was rather difficult for subs though. A sub was usually small and skinny, with soft hairless skin and delicate hands. Subs could also hardly grow any facial hair; if they wanted a beard it could take many months. Because of their structure, it was quite easy to distinguish who was a dom and who was a sub in general.

Today Louis wore proper clothes for the first time, black skinny jeans with a red sweater. He also had warm socks to cover his feet, which often grew cold on the hardwood floor of the house.

Harry and Nick were holding hands and cuddling on the couch when Louis came downstairs.

“You look so nice,” Harry complimented. “You did great with shopping Nicky.”

This day had ended up being the easiest so far. Louis spent time watching movies with his doms. He also went on his laptop to check social media and inform some of his schoolmates that he wouldn’t be coming back.

Within a blink of an eye lunch had come around. This time Louis tentatively offered to help Harry make it. He was no good at cooking, but Harry was patient as they made enchiladas and a small salad to go with them.

Naturally with Louis’ luck, nothing good could last forever. About an hour after lunch, Louis was sitting on the living room floor playing tug of war with Pig. Harry was coming up with content for his and Nick’s radio show, while Nick was somewhere upstairs.

“You’re a strong one,” Louis told Pig, gritting his teeth as he tugged at the rope.

“Nick still hasn’t trained her to walk properly on a leash,” Harry told him. “She practically yanks our arms off every time we walk her.”

Suddenly a throat cleared, and Louis looked up to see Nick standing there with a frown. Louis’ mouth fell open when he realized that Nick was holding up his ‘runaway’ backpack, which he had hidden in the closet of his ‘privacy’ room. He let go of Pig’s rope and stood up.

“What is this Lou?” Nick asked, setting the bag down on the coffee table. “I thought I remembered unpacking this bag. Why is it full again?”

Louis felt the blood rush from his body, stumbling over his words. “It...I wasn’t going to…”

Harry opened the bag and started pulling out items...a few shirts, some pants, underwear, shoes...and also a wad of money. The curly haired dom looked both confused and in disbelief, green eyes boring into their subs’. “Lou?”

“Where did you get that money?” Nick asked calmly.

Louis looked down at the floor, too ashamed to answer.

“Louis,” Nick sounded much sterner now. “ _Where did you get that money_?”

The sound of Nick’s dom voice made Louis react immediately. He dropped to his knees in front of Nick, looking down at his shaking hands. Nick had never spoken to him like this before, and frankly it was terrifying. Louis knew he was in big trouble.

“From...From a wallet,” He whispered.

“From whose wallet?” Nick asked, arms folded and looking incredibly tall and intimidating as he towered over the sub. Harry had risen to stand next to Nick, still looking quite shocked.

“From…” Louis swallowed.

“Answer us Louis,” Nick ordered. “Look at me, and give an answer right now.”

Louis looked up, blue eyes feeling watery. “Harry’s wallet.”

The silence was long and unbearable.

“You stole from me?” Harry finally clarified.

Louis shivered. “But I wasn’t...I changed my mind about running away. I wasn’t going to…”

“This packed bag that was hidden in your closet tells us otherwise,” Nick spoke again. “You’d best start explaining yourself right now.”

It took all of Louis’ willpower not to break down and cry.

“It was just a backup plan...but then today I realized that being your sub might not be so bad. I promise I was going to put the money back. I just w-wasn’t thinking clearly. P-Please don’t punish me, I won’t run away…”

“Whether you decided to run away or not, you still stole from one of your doms with the intention of running away at the time. Do exactly as I say and go upstairs to the master bedroom and sit on the bed Louis. Harry and I need to talk.”

Feeling like he was going to vomit, Louis rose from his knees and all but ran up the stairs. Now that he was alone in the bedroom, tears began streaming down his face as he bit his lip, hugging a pillow to his chest. He had really messed up this time. All he wanted right now was for his doms to hold him, kiss his cheeks, and tell him he was a good boy.

Even though it felt like hours, Nick and Harry were only absent for around five minutes or so. When they came upstairs to join Louis, Harry immediately came over to the bed and pulled Louis into his lap, Nick sitting beside them.

Louis was incredibly tense. “Are...Are you going to punish me?”

“Yes,” Harry answered gravely, running a hand slowly down Louis’ back. “First I’m going to give you fifteen spanks, and then I’m going to pass you to Nick and he’ll give you another fifteen.”

“Afterwards you are going to go downstairs and write Harry a page long apology note,” Nick added. “Then this entire thing will be forgotten and forgiven.”

Louis let out an uncontainable small whimper, fresh tears leaking from his eyes.. “Please...I don’t want to be spanked.”

“Fifteen from me, and fifteen from Nick,” Harry only repeated, but his voice was tight and constrained, as if he was in pain himself at the thought of punishing Louis. “Let’s get this over with.”

Louis didn’t even have a chance to protest or try running. He was instantly flipped over in Harry’s lap, and Nick helped by grabbing the waistbands of Louis’ pants and boxers, pulling them down so he was bare bottomed. It was absolutely humiliating, having his pale smooth bum on display for the first time ever to his doms.

To Louis, it was appalling to think that some people enjoyed this kind of thing. There was nothing nice at all about being spanked. Harry’s hand was firm and strong, slapping his rear quick and hard. In a way it was good that it was going by so fast, but it also _hurt_! After only five Louis began squirming, but Nick helped with holding him still.

“I’m sorry! Please, n-no more!” Louis was full on sobbing toward the end of Harry’s spanking. He didn’t have any time whatsoever to recover before he was transported onto Nick’s lap and the process was immediately continued.

While Harry had mostly focused on his actual bum, Nick went straight for the sensitive spots under Louis’ thighs, which happened to hurt much worse. By now Louis could hardly even think straight, crying pitifully and twisting in an attempt to get away from the Nick’s unrelenting hand and Harry’s strong grip that held him as still as possible.

It seemed like forever, but within a few minutes all thirty spanks had been delivered, and Louis was immediately placed back on his feet. Harry carefully pulled Louis’ boxers back on him, but neither dom made any move to comfort him.

“Go into the kitchen and write your letter,” Nick said, voice unemotional. “You have thirty minutes.”

Clutching at his flaming rear end, Louis slowly managed to make it from the bedroom and down the stairs. There was already a piece of paper and a pen sitting at the table ready for his use. It hurt like hell to get on the chair. Louis ended up sitting on his feet with his knees pulled to his chest to avoid having his throbbing bottom touch the chair as much as possible.

Over the next half hour Louis wrote. His writing was messy and the paper was covered with tears, and it was mostly filled with how sorry Louis was, begging for forgiveness and promising that he would never steal again. His hand was shaking so the letters were sloppy and it took awhile, but he managed to get it done.

Only a couple of minutes later, Harry came into the kitchen. Louis rose from the chair and bowed his head, holding out his letter.

“S-Sorry,” Louis managed to whisper before starting to cry again.

To his surprise, Harry took the letter from Louis but then crumpled the paper and threw it aside, reaching out to hold the sub tightly. It felt so warm and safe, so Louis clutched onto his doms’ shirt as he kept muttering his apology over and over again.

“It’s okay Lou, it’s all over baby,” Harry sounded choked up as he continued to hold Louis tightly. “...Such a good boy...it’s all okay. You’re okay baby.”

Louis didn’t know why he couldn’t stop crying. Maybe it was from relief instead of pain now, being so incredibly glad that he was forgiven. He never wanted to be in such a position again. Harry and Nick had been so cold and stern. Louis wanted nothing more than to please them, to make the doms smile and laugh and praise him endlessly.

Harry ended up carrying Louis back up the stairs and into the bedroom, where he was instantly laid on his stomach. Nick was there, and together he and Harry praised Louis for taking his punishment so well. Harry kissed at his tear-stained face and Nick gently rubbed his tender bottom.

“I won’t run away,” Louis continued to whimper, having yet to stop clinging to Harry’s shirt. He didn’t even feel stupid for acting so piteous; it was as if being punished had driven him into temporary ‘sub-mode’.

“We know you won’t Kitten,” Nick assured him. “You’re going to be a very good boy for us, we know that.”

For a while Louis basked in the praise. His bottom had stopped hurting for the most part. Maybe sitting down would be difficult for a day or so, but no longer was it throbbing and stinging.

Finally Louis had stopped crying completely, and everything began to dawn on him. His doms had just scolded, spanked, and cuddled him...and he’d let it happen. Louis let go of Harry’s shirt and rolled onto his side.

“It hurt,” Was the first rational thing to come from the sub’s mouth that afternoon, tone filled with accusation.

“It hurt us more than it hurt you,” Harry told him earnestly.

“There’s no way that’s true,” Louis said, pouting. Doms obviously didn’t understand these kinds of things because they didn’t have to be spanked.

“Trust me, it is.” Nick gave his input, kissing the sub’s messy tufts of hair.

“I’m humiliated,” Louis spoke dryly, hiding his face in a pillow. He apparently didn’t have permission to hide, because Nick pulled Louis against his chest. Louis’ pride still felt pretty hurt. He knew he wasn’t the first sub to be spanked, far from it. Liam always spanked Niall if he put his life in danger by acting recklessly, which happened quite often because Niall was just an energetic crazy person.

Louis really missed his friends. He hoped that he hadn’t screwed up his time in the isolating house.

“Are you…” Louis hesitated. “Am I still allowed to leave the house when the week is over?”

“As long as me or Nick are with you,” Harry promised, as if reading his mind. “We can even go visit your friends if you want.”

Louis breathed a sigh of relief. He laid with his back to Nick’s chest, blue eyes staring into Harry’s own. “I really am sorry.”

“It’s all forgiven,” Harry kissed his nose. “But now you know that Nick and I are serious about the rules. They’re only for your own safety. Believe me, neither of us like hurting you.”

Louis believed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Has Louis finally submitted to his fate, or will he try to run away again? Stay tuned for the next chapter everybody!
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to all who have been leaving comments and kudos, you're all lovely! I'm happy some people are having a fun time reading this!

After the incident which would now be forgotten and forgiven, things seemed to steer toward a more positive direction. For the remaining days of the week, Louis was much more calm and compliant toward his doms. Of course the sub hadn’t lost all of his snark, but it was no longer directed so harshly toward Harry and Nick.

In fact, Harry thought to himself as he watched Louis make himself cozy under Nick’s arm on the couch, Louis had become almost _clingy_ toward them. For the past two days after his punishment, the sub stayed constantly within their sight, hardly even retreating to his room.

It was actually one of the vital stages of sub development. More often than not, a sub would be in denial about his or her soulmate connection. Once the bond was made and the connection was soothed, a sub would finally accept and even feel affection toward his or her dom. Harry and Nick believed that Louis was in this breakthrough stage. That’s not to say he might not still fall back into resistance, but for now things were looking positive.

Louis was also adorably dramatic about his spanking. The day after it had occurred, he made it a point to avoid sitting on his bottom. If he was in Harry or Nick’s lap, he pointedly made sure his rear was hanging over their legs. During mealtimes, he sat crouched on his heels and huffed when Harry told him that it was rude dining behavior.

On Thursday Louis’ mother came by to visit. Louis impressed both of his doms with his behavior. He meekly apologized for the way he had acted on his birthday and hugged his mother, and then he properly introduced her to Harry and Nick.

“Oh Louis darling, I’m so glad you’re feeling better,” She told him when they were alone, Harry and Nick both in the kitchen preparing them all some tea. “I was a little worried that you were going to try and run away.”

Louis felt his face heat up. “Nope, everything’s all good now…”

Even though she must have noticed that Louis was leaving something out, she smiled and squeezed his hand. “You’re going to have such a good life here honey. I can already see how much Nick and Harry love you.”

His mother’s visit just didn’t seem long enough, but she promised to see him again. Nick even mentioned that Louis could go see his sisters soon, which left the visit with Louis feeling satisfied enough to say goodbye.

* * *

The next morning, Louis was shaken awake earlier than he’d anticipated.

“Come on little kitten, time to wake up. We’re going to the doctor’s this morning.”

Louis’ eyes shot open. “Doctors? But I’m not sick…”

“It’s standard procedure for doms to make sure their new subs are healthy. Besides, we also need to get our soulmate names checked to be sure that everything is okay.”

The sub grumbled as he was gently urged from the bed, stomping toward the shower. As he stood under the hot water and woke up more, Louis realized he shouldn’t be in such a bad mood. He had yet to leave this house for several days now, so a change of scenery would be nice, even if it was at a place where he would be poked and prodded. Besides, it was unfortunately common knowledge that most subs were subjected to a physical at least every three months, while doms only needed one every six months.

After getting dressed and eating some delicious fruits cut up into little cubes, the soulmate trio got into the car to head to Harry and Nick’s physician. Well, now he would be Louis’ doctor too. Harry sat in the backseat with Louis again just like he had the first time.

The doctor’s office was a private practice almost thirty minutes away. Louis drummed his fingers against the window, relaxing as Harry gently massaged the top of his other hand with his thumb. The building was small but looked upscaled, with vines growing on the side and a water fountain in the front. At least it looked people-friendly.

The waiting room was empty with the exception of a duo of soulmated women across the room. Louis slouched in a chair while Harry and Nick fussed over his paperwork. Subs had no rights to their medical files or decisions. It was slightly demeaning, but Louis was never one for paperwork anyway. So long as his doms didn’t order any obscure tests to be run on him, the sub wasn’t too bothered.

“Louis Tomlinson, sub of Nick Grimshaw and Harry Styles?” A nurse called a few minutes later. Louis stood up to go with her, but stopped when Harry and Nick both rose to follow him.

“Hold on, you’re coming with me?”

Harry blinked. “We’re your doms, of course we are.”

“That’s hardly fair!” Having his doms watching him get a physical would be highly uncomfortable. What if they made him undress, or asked him embarrassing questions?

“As your doms we’re required to be present,” Nick tried to reason with him. “It’ll only take a few minutes. We can get smoothies afterwards, how about that?”

Louis finally relented, but not without glaring sulkily at his doms. The nurse, who had been patient during the negotiations, finally led them into a back hallway where she began giving Louis his check up.

Louis had his eyes tested and passed easily. Unfortunately he was soon reprimanded by Nick, who caught him trying to stand on his tiptoes while his height was being recorded. Once he was also weighed, the nurse showed them into an examination room, telling them that the doctor would be in soon before leaving, but not before telling Louis to take off his shirt.

Harry and Nick’s staring was obvious.

“Stop looking,” Louis complained, crossing his arms over his bare chest and shivering a little. Not a minute later, there was a soft knock on the door.

“Come in,” Nick answered, and in walked the doctor. He was a late aged man probably in his sixties, but he greeted both doms with an enthusiastic smile. He was holding a clipboard and had glasses perched on the tip of his nose.

“Nicholas, Harry! It’s nice to see you back here, and finally with your sub.” With that, the doctor turned his attention to the sub sitting on the examination table. “You must be Louis. I’m Dr. Richards.”

“Hello,” Louis muttered, feeling his face flush. He usually wasn’t shy around doctors, but having Nick and Harry watching suddenly made him feel meek.

“Now let’s see, he’s only just turned eighteen on the 24th, yes?” The doctor asked, and Louis couldn’t help but feel irritated that the question was aimed at the doms. He was completely capable of answering himself.

“That’s right,” Nick confirmed. “And we connected with him within the first twenty four hours.”

“Excellent,” The old man muttered, scanning his notes. “Well, everything looks fine so far. A little small, but that’s normal body structure for a sub. He’s a bit underweight though...how often do you eat, Louis?”

Louis, who was already insecure about how tiny he was, squirmed. “I eat three meals a day.”

“Well, you probably just have a fast metabolism,” Dr. Richards concluded. “Nevertheless, make sure he doesn’t go skipping meals.”

Nick and Harry shared a worried glance, and Louis groaned internally. Now there was another thing his doms would take control of. Next Louis had his blood pressure and temperature taken, both normal. After his reflexes were checked, the doctor turned his attention toward the marks. **  
**

He prodded them gently. “This is an excellent location for the names, right on the arms. How do they feel? Any discomfort, pain, tenderness?”

“Nope,” Louis shook his head. “They tingle sometimes, but it doesn’t feel bad.”

“That’s just the bond settling,” The doctor told him. “Harry, Nicholas? How are your names, may I see them?”

Harry pushed up his sleeves to reveal his wrists, while Nick took off his shirt to show his shoulderblades. It was somewhat fascinating for Louis to see his own name written on someone else’s body in what looked like his handwriting.

“Everything seems fine,” The doctor concluded after examining the doms’ names, and then turned his attention back to Louis. “Lay back on the table for me.”

Louis did so, and his ribs and abdomen were touched.

“Has he engaged in any sexual activities yet?” The doctor asked Harry and Nick, causing Louis to choke on his breath, face burning in embarrassment.

“No, he’s a virgin.” Nick answered.

“That’s fine. Make sure you’re gentle with him when you do finally have sex. Go slowly and explain everything along the way.”

“We will,” Harry said very seriously, and Louis hid his face in his hands.

Thankfully that was the end of the horrible appointment. Louis had never felt so humiliated in his life, practically running out to the car once he was finally free from the examination room. This time Nick took the backseat with him while Harry drove.

“You were such a good boy,” Nick praised him. “Now you can have a smoothie and forget all about it, okay kitten?”

Louis relented slightly from the praise. “Can it be strawberry? With whipped cream?”

* * *

_Louis remembered a time when he was thirteen years old, when he and his friend Stan had been eating in the food court of a local shopping center. Suddenly there had been a loud yell. There were two men standing only a few feet away from them. The taller of the two had his arms crossed and was glaring. The other man, who was obviously a sub, instantly dropped to his knees, looking up with big innocent eyes. The dom slapped his cheek harshly before jerking the sub up by the arm and dragging him away._

_“Man would it suck to be a sub,” Stan had commented as he slurped at his soda._

_Louis couldn’t  have agreed more with his friend._

_ Everyone took the news of their sixteenth birthday differently. Most subs would be ashamed at the time, wearing long sleeves to hide their circles. Those who got red circles and became doms suddenly acted ten times more confident with themselves. Then the occasional few who got purple circles always seemed mildly disappointed, which was bizarre to Louis. They were definitely the luckiest of the batch. _

_In school there had been required classes to educate people on soulmates and dom/sub behavior, but nobody ever took it seriously at the time. They were still teenagers, just kids. Nothing really settled in until your eighteenth year grew close, and then the only thing that would develop was panic, especially for subs._

_Doms usually didn’t get names when they were eighteen. This was because their subs were almost always younger than they were. This was opposite for a sub, who was guaranteed to have a dom’s name show up on their birthday._

_Three years later when Louis woke up with a black dot on his arm, the first thing he thought of was that time in the shopping center. He’d pictured himself at the knees of a dom before bursting into tears._

* * *

“I think we need to discuss next week,” Nick said during dinner that night. “Harry and I need to return to work on Monday. Louis, we’re going to bring you with us.”

Louis blinked. “Do I get to be on the radio?”

“Of course you do,” Harry told him. “You’ve got to introduce yourself after all. Everyone is just dying to meet you.”

It was true that many of the public were curious about Louis. There were already news articles online about the famous dom couple’s new sub. Both Harry and Nick were excited to introduce Louis to their co-workers and show him off to the nation. Louis seemed like he’d do really well on the radio what with how animated he could be. **  
**

“Since you’ve behaved so well this week, we’re willing to be more lenient now.” Nick said. “So next week we’re going to take you out more, to work, the movies, shopping, restaurants...and if you continue to do well then soon you won’t need constant supervision.”

Louis smiled as he took a bite of his chicken.

“We also have some good news,” Harry informed him. “We’ve invited your friend Niall and his soulmates to come over tomorrow and have dinner with us.”

“Really?” Louis perked up. He had been missing his friends so much, even Liam. It would be so nice to see them again.

“Yes, so long as you eat all of your dinner right now.”

Louis whined. “I’m not that underweight! It was just a growth spurt…”

That was complete bullcrap, seeing as he had basically stopped growing around sixteen years old.

“Nevertheless, finish what’s on your place,” Nick instructed.

Louis complied, but only because he wanted to see his friends more than anything.

* * *

“Lou-Lou!” Niall sprang forward, pulling the other sub into a tight hug. “It’s been ages, I’ve missed you!”

Louis returned the dramatics. “I’ve missed you too Ni-Ni, don’t ever leave me again!”

Liam and Zayn, who were both still standing in the doorway with their hands entwined, rolled their eyes. Harry and Nick only smiled fondly at their sub, having never witnessed Louis being this joyful before. It was definitely a pleasant change.

Finally Liam cleared his throat, and the two subs pulled apart. Louis introduced his friends to Nick and Harry. The doms all shook hands, while Niall and Zayn bowed their heads respectively to the new doms they were meeting.

“It’s nice to meet you!” Niall told Louis’ doms cheerfully. “Louis was going to live with us forever and hide from you guys, I’m glad to see he’s changed his mind!”

Louis flushed bright red, Nick smiled at the cute blonde sub, and Harry looked mildly alarmed at the words, coming over to wrap a possessive arm around Louis’ waist.

“Come on inside and out of the cold,” Nick beckoned them further into the house. “I can take your coats if you want.”

The group of doms and subs entered the house and went to the living room. The fire was bursting strongly with heat. Louis had spent most of the morning laying in front of it and snuggling with Pig. The Christmas tree was still up in the corner despite the holiday’s passing, so the room smelled strongly of pine.

Everyone tooks seats; Louis and Niall cuddling together on an armchair, Harry and Nick on the sofa, and Liam with Zayn on the loveseat. Zayn rested his head against his doms’ shoulder. Liam instantly ran his fingers through the dark haired sub’s hair to calm him, as it was obvious that Zayn felt a little uncomfortable in a new place with unfamiliar doms.

It would have been a little awkward if it wasn’t for Niall. “I still can’t believe your doms are DJ’s. You’re so lucky they don’t have boring jobs…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Liam asked with a raised eyebrow. The dom really had nothing to be concerned about; he was the Dean of Medicine at one of London’s finest hospitals after all, making a good amount of money each year.

“Imagine being paid to listen to music and talk to thousands of people,” Niall continued on.

“It definitely has its perks,” Harry agreed.

“I get to be on the radio,” Louis told the blonde haired sub smugly.

“Are you serious? Can you give me a shout out?”

* * *

Eventually Louis decided to give Zayn and Niall a tour of his new home. While the subs were exploring the upstairs, the doms got to know each other better.

“So how long have Niall and Zayn been your subs?” Harry asked curiously.

“I’ve had Zayn for a little over a year. Niall’s only been with us for three and a half months, but it seems like forever.” Liam said, smiling at the thought of his newest Irish sub.

“Niall definitely seems high spirited,” Nick observed.

“Oh he is,” Liam nodded. “He was happy to live with me and Zayn. I was expecting some resistance...you know, since I was taking him away to a whole different country. But that’s Niall for you, always looking for an adventure.”

“Wow,” Nick said, both he and Harry impressed. “Louis wasn’t too happy when we found him.”

“Oh I know,” Liam said sympathetically. “He ran straight to Niall and Zayn when he found out he had two doms. Lou seems alright now though, so that’s something to be happy about. Zayn was much worse. If I recall correctly, when I came to collect him, Zayn threw at least ten books at my face.”

Harry smiled. “I’m glad Louis didn’t do that. You know, I don’t think Zayn’s spoken at all to us yet.”

“Don’t mind him, Zayn’s always a bit cautious around new doms,” Liam informed them. “He can actually get quite animated once he warms up to people. He comes to the hospital all the time to volunteer and talk to patients, that is when he’s not busy painting.”

“Is he an artist?” Harry asked.

“Yes, he’s very talented. Sometimes he’ll draw pictures for patients in the hospital. Other times he uses graffiti, watercolors, paint...I’ve turned one of the rooms in our house into a studio for him.”

“I wonder what Louis likes to do for fun,” Nick mused aloud. It would be good to have something to occupy him with, seeing as they weren’t sending him to school. To be honest they planned for Louis to spend a lot of time at BBC with them, but there was no telling if Louis would enjoy that or not.

“He likes footie,” Liam offered. “He and Niall like playing together.”

“I just want to see him smile more,” Harry confessed. “He doesn’t smile at us the way he smiles at Niall…”

“He will eventually,” Liam promised. “You just give it some time.”

* * *

Louis showed Niall and Zayn the upstairs section of the house. He stopped lastly at his personal ‘privacy’ bedroom, sitting down on the small bed.

“You get your own room?” Niall frowned. “That’s not fair! Zayn has a studio, Li needs to give me a room too!”

Zayn snorted. “What for? You hate being alone.”

Louis smiled at his friends bantered. He felt a little more normal being with people aside from his doms. They were all distracted talking to each other downstairs, so he felt slightly more free than usual.

“You seem to have accepted your fate,” Zayn commented a moment later, sitting down next to Louis on the bed while Niall went around the room inspecting various clothes and objects.

“It’s not unbearable yet,” Louis said, but then admitted, “Plus they found my runaway bag...and some money that I’d initially stolen from Harry’s wallet.”

“Oh shit,” Zayn winced and bit his lip.

“Did you get punished?” Niall asked curiously.

“Yeah, they spanked me,” Louis confessed in embarrassment. “I also had to write a letter of apology.”

“There’s no need to be ashamed,” Niall comforted him. “Zaynie got punished on last week. He got absolutely shitfaced and then broke the tv. Liam was so mad!”

Louis perked up a little, laughing when Zayn groaned. “You get punished a lot more than me Nialler.”

“But my punishments are never as harsh as yours,” Niall objected. “Well, except for the time when I ran out in the middle of traffic to try and save that squirrell…I couldn’t sit down properly for days.”

It was a little weird hearing the subs talk so casually about being disciplined. Before, they had always kept quiet about it, knowing how freaked out Louis was about doms. Now that Louis was connected with his soulmates, his friends didn’t appear to feel the need to hold back anymore. In a way it was comforting, knowing that he wasn’t in this whole thing alone.

“Now that you’re eighteen we should have a pint together soon,” Niall suggested.

Louis shrugged. “I’m not sure if Harry and Nick would let me…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Zayn told him. “Most doms are really overprotective for a few months, but overtime they become more easygoing.”

“So long as you don’t run away,” Niall waggled his eyebrows at Zayn. “Liam started letting me go out by myself within a week.”

Zayn frowned. “I was accepted into university, I didn’t just want to have my future taken away.”

“So that’s the real reason you ran away?” Louis asked.

“Mhm,” Zayn nodded. “I probably wouldn’t have been accepted if they knew I was a sub, but I lied on the paperwork...got scholarships and everything. Liam found me a week before the term was going to start. I took off to try and make it on time, but Liam knew where I would go. He called the university and told them everything.”

Louis winced. “Wow...that really sucks.”

“That’s why he tried running away again!” Niall laughed, as if the tragic story was amusing, and Louis resisted the urge to give him a good smack.

“I was rebellious,” Zayn said. “Pissed that some guy had total jurisdiction over my future. Liam ruined my chances to make something of myself, so out of spite I tried leaving again. You can only get so far by hitchhiking, and eventually I got reported and the authorities caught me and contacted Liam.”

“How do you still look Liam in the face?” Louis asked in disbelief.

Zayn shrugged. “It’s weird, but I love him now. I know it seems twisted, but he really loves me too. Liam’s also such a dork...for the first month we lived together he read me the entire Harry Potter series before bed. He’s not always intimidating, and he’s really compassionate...”

“And he’s great in bed,” Niall added helpfully.

“But still,” Louis protested. “You must have some pent up animosity left over…”

“I won’t ever leave again, now that we’re bonded completely.” Zayn said firmly. “I love Liam.”

Before Louis could truly ponder this sad story, the subs were called downstairs for lunch.

Zayn and Niall sat on either side of Liam on one side of the table, while Louis sat in between Nick and Louis on the other side. It was custom for a dom to distribute their subs’ food while in company, so Liam filled his subs’ plates with finger sandwiches, chips, and fruit. Harry was the one to fill Louis’ plate, giving him way too much.

There was a brief silence, a dom supposed to be the one to start a conversation at the table. Some of these dining customs were still weird to Louis, who had never grown up with a dom in the house.

“So what were you three getting up to upstairs?” Nick asked the subs.

Niall grinned. “Oh nothing much, Louis was just showing us his amazing sex toy collection!”

Louis choked on his milk, but Harry and Nick knew Niall was only joking.

Liam lightly tapped Niall’s hand. “That’s not appropriate for the table.”

“You guys have a nice place,” Zayn took over before Niall could embarrass Louis further.

“Thanks,” Harry smiled. “Nick chose the house, I chose most of the paint colors.”

For the next hour everyone ate slowly, making easy casual conversation before retreating into the living room once again. Niall, who had fallen in love with Pig, began pleading with Liam to get a dog.

“You and Zayn are enough to look after, we don’t need to add a dog into the mix.”

“I would take care of a puppy, he could be my responsibility!”

“You don’t even clean up when I ask you to.”

“Because I’m not good at cleaning!”

“Cleaning isn’t really that much of a skill, it’s a task. Besides, practice makes perfect.”

Harry watched as the dom and sub playfully debated the adoption of a dog, the feeling of jealousy slowly creeping up on him. He wanted Louis to look at him with that type of amusement and adoration…

The curly haired dom was thrown from his thoughts when Louis moved to sit next to him, curling into his side. Harry automatically wrapped an arm around him, hugging him close.

“You tired Lou?” The dom murmured, gently rubbing up and down his sub’s side as he watched Louis’ eyes droop.

“It is getting late,” Liam acknowledged. “We should probably head out.”

“We’ll see Louis again soon, right?” Zayn asked Nick and Harry, seeing the other two subs looking disappointed.

“Of course,” Nick replied. “You’re welcome over here anytime.”

The trio put on their scarves, coats, and gloves.

“Thank you for having us,” Liam said. “You’re all welcome at my house anytime as well. Darlings, what do you say to Harry and Nick?”

“Thanks for having us! I’d love to be on the radio sometime,” Niall said, while Zayn thanked them quietly and politely.

The house felt much more emptier without his friends, but Louis felt tired. He was ready to wind down and retire to bed for the night. Evidently his doms felt the same way, because out of nowhere Harry scooped Louis into his arms.

“Bedtime,” He sang, kissing Louis’ forehead as he walked up the stairs, long legs taking several at a time. Louis still wasn’t used to being manhandled, but it was nice not to have to walk up the long staircase. Maybe his laziness could eventually become an advantage.

When Louis emerged from the bathroom after brushing his teeth, he stopped in his tracks. Nick and Harry were embracing each other on the bed, lips connected as they kissed rather passionately.

Come to think of it, Louis had hardly seen the doms act this heated since his arrival. They probably didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, which Louis was thankful for.

Nick spotted Louis in the doorway and pulled away from Harry, making space in between them and patting the bed. “Come here babe.”

Louis was getting a little more used to sleeping with his doms. It actually felt nice, to have a warm body on either side of him. Louis’ sisters used to sleep in his bed sometimes if they were scared, but that was only once in awhile. Now each night he was cuddled and got nightly backrubs.

The sub crossed the room to crawl onto the bed between his doms, and Nick automatically tucked Louis against his chest. Harry turned off the bedside lamp and joined them under the covers, his thumb stroking Louis’ cheek.

“Thank you for letting me see my friends,” Louis whispered into the darkness.

Nick squeezed him lightly. “That’s okay, I think they’re absolutely lovely. We’ll get together with them again soon.”

Out of nowhere, Harry leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against Louis’. It only lasted for a few seconds, nothing like Harry’s kiss with Nick had been like, but it still caught the sub off guard.

Harry pulled back and smiled. “Love you Lou.”

As Nick and Harry drifted off to sleep, Louis now felt his mind buzzing. He was beginning to feel conflicted once again. He really felt that he was beginning to love his doms. Every time they praised, held, or touched him, Louis got some sort of high from it.

But he couldn’t help but think of Zayn’s story. Sure, right now Louis didn’t care about school or work, but what if he changed his mind in the future? Would he really have to stay tied down, forever having his doms provide for him? Louis would never be able to buy anything for himself again. How would he shop for birthdays and holidays? How would he travel the world and go on vacations? Would he be able to ever do anything independently?

Everything, every decision, was now for his doms’ to make. Yes, they seemed to have his best interests in their hearts, but what if they were ever wrong?

Louis tried to put himself in their shoes. What if he had turned out to be a dom? Would he treat his sub like this? Would he allow him or her to get a job, or go to school? Why was he a sub? What factors determined the classification of a dom or sub, aside from the smaller body of a sub? Some of the smartest people in Louis’ school had turned out to be subs, so intelligence wasn’t a factor. It was all so complicated and confusing. Even the best scientists used the word ‘fate’ when describing soulmates.

Louis tried to imagine a world without doms and subs. Did such a dimension exist, where everyone was equal, without a mark on your wrist defining your life? There was just no way. Since the time of the cavemen, soulmates existed along with doms and subs.

Finally Louis’ eyes closed as he fell asleep, unconsciously burrowing his face into Nick’s chest.

****  
_A few important facts in this alternate universe:_ **  
**

__

_-Soulmates don’t get “married”, and they usually don’t take each other’s last names._

__

_-Subs have hardly ANY rights. Doms get complete legal control over their sub._

__

_-Once they connect with a dom, subs do not attend university, have a driver’s license, or a real job...although this can be possible if a dom allows it, but this doesn’t happen often. (Doms feel the need to be the ‘providers’, and have more power by being the ones to pay for the bills, provide transportation, food, ect.)_

__

_-Documented cases of sub abuse are extremely rare, because in this society it is the norm for subs to be ‘punished’ however their dom sees fit, with the exception of straight up brutality._

__

_-Although people with purple dots are not classified as a dom or a sub, they can still be paired in “trios” with both a dom and a sub together. They are entitled to the same rights as doms._

__

_-The Hierarchy of this world is based on the following: Doms are of the highest class. Most go to university and get well paid jobs such as doctors, lawyers, ect. People who are not classified as a dom or sub (purple circles) get the same legal rights as doms. Some attend university, and most get average jobs. Lastly, Subs do not have any legal rights. Even if they have no soulmate, another dom is assigned to make their legal decisions._

__

Hope people enjoyed reading this chapter! 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in awhile! College has kept me super busy with finals growing near, and I was having some terrible financial troubles. Seriously, I was on the brink of being homeless next semester, but thankfully I was blessed with some scholarships so everything is okay now! 
> 
> This chapter isn't really my best work, but it's almost been a month so I needed to update (thank god for Thanksgiving break). I promise the quality and content of future chapters will be better
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains some sexual content, but not majorly detailed. (blowjobs)

“Harry and I have some fantastic news to announce. It completely explains the reason we took a week off from work.”

“Trust me, you’re going to love this news. Although from the looks of the recent media, a lot of you have already guessed on what’s happened.”

“We’ll announce it after this next song. Until then, sit tight and enjoy Chandelier by Sia.”

Louis watched in awe from Harry’s lap as the two doms worked. The desk in front of them was full of hundreds of different little colored buttons and switches. The sub had to hold himself back from reaching out and pressing them to see what would happen.

“What do you think so far Lou?” Harry asked, holding him tightly around the waist.

“I like it,” Louis smiled, and for once he wasn’t lying. The entire building was spectacular, not to mention what went on inside. He hoped to have time to go around and explore it properly.

Nick and Harry had arrived early to introduce their new soulmate to everyone who was around. Louis met many different DJ’s, producers, and staff who all adored him. There were even a few subs around, some helping with work in the background while others merely shadowed their doms.

Now they were in Nick and Harry’s studio. Louis was in Harry’s lap and the show had only just started. It was quite early in the morning, but thankfully there was plenty of tea and coffee available. Nick and Harry’s show was run in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and the evenings on Tuesday and Thursday, with weekends off.

When the song ended, Harry spoke up. “Alright everybody, judging by the chaos on Twitter and Facebook, most of you know that Nick and I have found our long awaited sub.”

“He’s probably the single most gorgeous boy in existence,” Nick added. “What made this whole thing even better is that we got him in time for Christmas.”

“Just like I wanted, a Christmas miracle!” Harry said. “Lou baby, why don’t you say hello to everyone?”

Louis tilted his head toward the microphone. Despite thousands of people listening, the sub was suddenly feeling quite confident. “Good morning!”

They gained more listeners than ever during this show. Social media sprang upon the subject, and soon #LovelyLouis was trending on Twitter. Louis found working on the radio very fun. He was big into music, so it was fun to help announce the songs and give his opinion on them, as well as hear about the latest celebrity gossip.

When the show was over, almost three hours later, he was showered with kisses.

“You did so good Lou,” Harry praised him. “You make a perfect DJ.”

“We practically got to sit back and enjoy life while you ran everything,” Nick said. Both doms were holding Louis’ hands, the sub in between them, as they exited BBC.

Harry opened the car door for Louis. “Does this mean you’ll enjoy coming to work with us often?”

“Do I get paid?” Louis asked, but he wasn’t serious. He already knew that Nick and Harry were traditional doms who felt the need to provide for their subs. Besides, it was a privilege just to be able to be on the radio in the first place.

There was no question about it; Louis could at least get used to his doms’ profession.

* * *

As New Year's passed and January began to fly by, Louis found himself further evolving into his role as a sub. It was subtle at first, but eventually Louis caught onto the way that the bond was affecting him. He couldn’t go more than a few minutes without his mind wandering to the subject of his doms. When he was in their presence, his body always felt calmer and more relaxed.

Neither Harry nor Nick had spanked Louis since the incident, much to the sub’s relief. Now that Louis had time on his hands, he used it analyzing his doms.

Even though they were both doms, there were obvious differences between them. When it came to discipline, Louis was sure that Harry was the easier one. After all, he did seem more pained than Nick had been when they’d both spanked Louis. Nick had also put Louis in the corner the other day when he’d back talked, and Harry had protested briefly.

Despite this, things evened out because Harry used his dom voice more than Nick did. When a dom used their ‘voice’ on a sub, it almost guaranteed automatic submission. Louis didn’t like it at all. This morning when Louis didn’t want to eat breakfast (dinner had been big last night) he’d put up a good argument.

Finally after several minutes, Harry had said in his dom voice, “ _Sit down and eat your breakfast Lou!_ ”

Automatically Louis had plopped down in his chair and spooned his porridge into his mouth.

Physically, Louis felt his inner sub continuing to develop. Once again, it was only small things, but very noticeable to Louis himself. For example, his body now always reacted in response to his doms. If Harry wrapped an arm around him, Louis wouldn’t think twice about snuggling close to him. If Nick chastised him, Louis would lower his head in a silent apology before he even realized what he was doing.

It was scary, but at the same time Louis felt relieved. Something about being controlled was comforting, in a twisted way. Harry and Nick loved Louis, and they were adamant on making sure that he was kept safe and bound closely to them. Several weeks ago Louis would have never consented to being under the care of his doms, but now he wasn’t so sure, and that was something that terrified him.

Even if Nick and Harry made Louis furious at times, there was something inside Louis that yearned for the praise and love of his doms. If he was called a good boy, sweet boy, lovely, or even kitten, Louis would feel his heart flutter and chest grow warm.

Nick and Harry were more than willing to give their sub praise and love, even for the most simplest of things. If Louis ate everything on his plate, he would get kissed on the cheek and told how good he was. If he wore something nice, was polite, or even smiled, he would get compliments and more praise.

There was no denying that Louis fell more and more into his role as a sub every day, and that in itself would have been a frightening thing if Louis wasn’t enjoying himself so much.

Louis had also met both of his doms’ parents.

Anne was probably the most wonderful woman in existence. She was a sub like Louis, but it was hilarious because she obviously had complete control over Harry, the dom practically worshipping the ground she walked on. Nick too, gave Harry’s mom complete respect, which was definitely interesting and also amusing.

“The boys have been been searching for you for quite some time now,” She’d told Louis, an arm wrapped around his shoulders as they sat on the loveseat. “They’ll take good care of you sweetheart, I can guarantee you that.”

The more Louis talked to Anne, the more he found out about his doms.

“Five years ago, just a few days after Harry turned eighteen, Nicholas tracked him down. Nick was a little bewildered to find another dom instead of a sub, as he’d been waiting for almost three years for a sub at the time. But finding Harry was still a big gain, because they both got on so well! Now that they’ve finally found you, everything is just perfect.”

Nick’s parents were nice enough, but a little more traditional when it came to the roles of doms and subs. His mother was warm and smiley but rather quiet at first, that is until Nick’s father actually gave her permission to speak. Louis thanked the lord that Nick and Harry weren’t that strict with him. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to control his voice.

Luckily for Louis, even Nick’s parents seemed to approve of him.

* * *

One thing that had yet to change was Louis’ sex life. While the thought of having sex with his doms made Louis feel uneasy, he couldn’t help the fact that sometimes his mind wandered too closely toward the subject.

When Louis brought this up to Niall, he’d expected to be made fun of. Thankfully his sub friend was happy to offer advice instead of tease.

“Everyone’s different Lou,” Niall had told him. They were out getting coffee together, because Harry and Nick were finally easing up with their limitations. “Soulmates don’t always have to be romantic, although usually doms and subs are. But sometimes soulmates never have sex. No matter what it’s a close bond, sexual or not.”

“I feel like...maybe they want to have sex with me,” Louis muttered, his face bright red. “They have sex together already, but they’re both doms so it’s difficult for them. They probably want a sub, yeah?”

“I got things going with Liam and Zayn pretty fast,” Niall confessed. “But it really depends on one thing. Do you actually want to have sex with your doms?”

Louis wasn’t sure.

He was eighteen years old now, an adult. Of course he had his needs, but it was still awkward. Louis found himself choking on his water that night during dinner when he suddenly noticed Nick and Harry’s hands, and how big they were, and how they could easily grip his hips and...

Yes, this was becoming an issue, especially because it getting very hard to gain control over these types of thoughts thoughts.

The worst thing about it was that Louis knew he was interfering with his doms’ sex lives. They spent every night cuddling Louis to sleep, and as far as the sub knew, they hadn’t had a chance to have sex together since connection with Louis.

Obviously Louis’ thoughts were getting to him, because during the night he had a very detailed dream that involved both his doms and some very mature behavior. Of course thanks to that dream, the most awkward morning of all times came into existence…

* * *

Harry woke up with something hard poking into his lower belly. He opened his eyes and smiled because Louis’ was clinging onto him in his sleep like he often did, but then when he realized what was happening his eyes widened a little.

“Nick,” The dom whispered softly, stirring the other from his sleep.

“What is it Harry?” Nick asked as he automatically ran his hand through their sleeping sub’s hair.

Harry looked over at Nick. “Lou’s, erm...a bit hard this morning.”

“Oh,” Nick said unexpectedly, feeling his breath catch in his throat as he gazed down at Louis. The sub looked perfectly normal, albeit delightful as usual. He was smiling a little, but there was no indication that he was very excited. When Harry lifted up the blankets, however, his words were confirmed.

There was no denying the fact that both doms had fantasized about Louis a lot. Of course they had tried to give him as much privacy as possible, since it was clear that Louis was uncomfortable about sex, and he was so young and inexperienced.

It was agonizing because Louis was so close, in their beds each night, but essentially off limits for the time being. Some doms didn’t wait until their subs were comfortable with them, but Harry and Nick weren’t those kinds of people.

Louis sighed in his sleep and burrowed further into Harry, hips jutting forward slightly.

“God,” Harry whispered aloud, looking pain stricken. He wanted to touch his sub so badly, but he couldn’t. That would ruin all the the trust they were trying to build. Unfortunately the curly haired dom felt himself growing aroused as well.

“We could try waking him up?” Nick suggested, and leaned down to plant a kiss on the sub’s forehead. “Louis love, it’s morning. Wake up, sweet kitten.”

Slowly Louis was roused from his sleep, groggy and still partially in dream land. He was so comfy and warm, and he felt so nice...that is, until he became more conscious and his mind registered what was happening.

Both of his doms were awake and looking at him, and he realized that he was quite hard, hips pressed snugly against Harry’s belly. There was no way that Harry didn’t notice.

“O-Oh,” Louis squeaked, face flushing red in humiliation. He had no idea what to do, because he was literally sandwiched tightly in between both of his doms, and Harry’s arms were wrapped around his waist. He honestly felt like he could cry.

“It’s okay love, everything’s fine,” Nick reassured him from behind. “It’s completely normal, we understand…”

Harry shifted a bit from underneath Louis, and the sub bit his lip hard from the feeling that the friction caused.

“Do you…” Nick said slowly, unsure about what to do. “You want to go to the bathroom to take care of yourself, or…or we could help?”

Louis felt stuck. The thought of Harry and Nick ‘helping’ him was very appealing. On the other hand, Louis was very embarrassed. He wanted so badly to submit himself to their mercy, his inner sub sending off the desire of being compliant and using deferential behavior in order to be cared for.

The sub buried his face into Harry’s warm neck. “I...I...er, okay.”

Nick was rubbing soothing circles on his back. “Only if you’re comfortable Louis. You can say no, we won’t be offended at all.”

Louis shook his head. “You can, but...Well, I’ve never-”

“That’s okay,” Harry spoke up. “We’re your doms Lou. We just want to take care of you, and make you feel nice.”

“Most subs don’t have much experience until they connect to a dom,” Nick informed him, understanding where Louis’ embarrassment came from. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be, subs are supposed to stay virgin for their doms.”

“Alright, alright!” Louis finally consented, still embarrassed as he pulled his head away from Harry’s shoulder and took a deep breath.

Just like that, Nick and Harry got to work. Harry gently moved Louis off of him, flipping him onto his back in the middle of the bed.

“We won’t do anything overwhelming,” Nick assured him. “If you want us to stop, just say the word.”

Harry grinned, suddenly very excited. “We’ll just take care of your little problem. Work up a bit of an appetite for breakfast, yeah?”

That got a small smile out of Louis, much to his doms’ relief.

“Lift up your hips, lovely.”

Louis compiled, and Harry helped him out of his sweatpants and t-shirt. Harry saw his little sub’s cock straining through the fabric of his underwear, and he couldn’t help but lick his lips at the sight.

This was the first time, Nick realized, that they would see Louis without any clothes on. Both doms were respectful of Louis’ privacy, so whenever he changed his clothes in the same room as them, they would do their best to look away. They had, however, gotten to see Louis’ bum during his spanking, but that had been under rough circumstances so they didn’t get the time to fully appreciate the view.

It turned out that Louis had an absolutely beautiful body. He was smooth skinned, practically bare with a small dusting of thin body hair. His nipples were hardened from the cold air and pleasure, and once his underwear was off, they got a full glimpse of his arousal.

“So beautiful Lou,” Nick breathed in awe, reaching out to take him into his hand. Louis bit back a mewl from the feeling of someone touching him there; it was a little strange, but it felt so nice.

Louis ended up experiencing his first blow job that morning. It was probably one of the best things to ever happen to him so far in life. Harry was very good at what he did. With the combination of Harry’s amazing mouth and Louis’ small amount of experience, Louis had finished within minutes. The dom swallowed it all and licked his lips like it was the best treat in the world, while Louis could only lay back on the bed in awe.

The sub had then watched in drowsy fascination as Nick moved forward to give Harry the same type of treatment that Louis had received, head bobbing as he expertly sucked the other dom off, and then Harry helped Nick out as well. Eventually the three soulmates cuddled together in a sleepy pile on the bed.

“What do you think Kitten?” Nick asked as he ran his fingers through Louis’ hair, which was damp with sweat.

“I liked it,” Louis grinned. “I’ve been missing out.”

“You have,” Harry agreed. “But we have a lot of time to make up for it.”

* * *

They still hadn’t had actual sex yet, because Harry and Nick were slowly working their sub up to that level. The next week did include some more blowjobs though, occurring in the morning, sometimes in the shower, often before bed, and any other appropriate time interval.

Both doms seemed to have this fascination with his bum as well. Harry in particular enjoyed cupping and squeezing it, and Nick sometimes gave it a sturdy pat whenever Louis walked by. The sub sort of hoped that their newfound love for his bottom would make them decide to forgo any future spankings, but that was probably unlikely seeing as that would just give them an excuse to touch it…

Because Louis was behaving so well, he had gained much more freedom now. As nice as his new home was, Louis still liked going out whenever he could. That meant he made many excuses, aside from just going to visit Niall and Zayn’s place.

Louis made it his new hobby to take Pig on hour long walks around the neighborhood. Usually Nick and Harry just let her run around the backyard to do her business, but Louis was really starting to fall for the animal, and these walks were really helping them bond.

Sometimes Louis volunteered to do the grocery shopping, but Harry always insisted on coming with him. He thought grocery shopping, especially with his sub, was just the greatest thing in the world. Louis in fact hated shopping, wanting to get out by himself more than anything, but he had to admit that it was endearing to be tugged by the hand into every single isle to analyze every single item.

Every two weeks, Louis was granted a day long trip to Doncaster, usually on Saturday. Harry, Nick, or both of the doms always accompanied him. Louis found it nice to actually be able to show off where he’d been raised. More importantly, he was on better terms with his mother now. Harry and Nick were always nice to her, and they both got on great with his little sisters.

It was disappointing not to have a license anymore. His doms had deactivated Louis’ in order to make him dependent on them for rides. They made sure to drive him everywhere personally, and any sort of bus or cab were off limits unless instructed otherwise.

This was currently the rule that Louis felt like putting to the test. He was a little put off at having his licence deactivated, as they’d just informed him of this today. He would have understood having it restricted until he’d gained their full trust, but not being able to drive ever again was pretty rude in his opinion.

“Driving is dangerous kitten,” Nick had tried to explain to Louis, when it was clear the the sub was angry. “That’s a job for Doms.”

That was of course complete bullshit. It was completely legal for subs to have a license, doms just liked having power. The bus and cab rule was proof to that, especially due to the fact that subs were permitted free bus fares! It didn’t make any sense not to take advantage of that.

Just because he felt like smiting his doms, Louis decided that he would take a little journey. Even if it would fix nothing, Louis still felt like rebelling a bit.

“Wanna go for a ride Piggy?” Louis gently pulled the dog’s leash toward the bus stop. “We can do a bit of London sightseeing.”

Pig whined apprehensively at being dragged from their usual afternoon walk routine, but she followed consistently. Louis guessed that he had around forty five minutes or so, which was plenty of time.

Thirty minutes later, Louis regretted the idea.

He and Pig were now somewhere in the center of London, a good distance away from their little neighborhood, hiding. A group of people had recognized him as Nick and Harry’s sub and had started taking pictures. This of course gained the interest of even more people, and Louis felt crowded, deciding that it was time to take his leave.

By the time he made it to another bus, the time for he and Pig’s usual walk was already five minutes past.

“Shit, what do I do?” Louis mused aloud, stomach feeling heavy at the thought of being in trouble. The time for fun was over, now he just wanted to be at home in the warm lounge in front of the fireplace with his doms.

Finally he put his new phone to use for the first time and sent Harry a text.

**To Harry: gonna be a few minutes late, took a longer walk and forgot the time.**

Louis held his breath and waited, and moment later, he received a response.

**From Harry: Thank you for letting us know baby. Come home soon, it’s starting to snow heavier.**

It looked like he had outsmarted his doms this time. Besides, Louis didn’t really think he misbehaved much in the first place; he just acted out a tiny bit to show resistance, more for himself than anything else. Taking a little bus ride was completely harmless, and he hadn’t technically lied to Harry...this was part of their walk, and he did lose track of the time.

Louis made it off the bus with Pig, and they were now less than ten minutes away from home. Harry had been right, the snow was picking up. Louis, feeling much calmer now, poked his tongue out to catch a few snowflakes.

When Louis made it back home, his doms greeted him lovingly.

“I’ll make some hot chocolate,” Harry announced after kissing Louis’ cold cheeks. Pig was unclipped from her leash and she made a beeline for the lounge, where the fire was send the room extra heat.

Nick brushed fresh snowflakes from the sub’s hair. “Come here lovely kitten, let’s get you out of this jacket.”

Out of nowhere, Louis was hit by a pang of guilt. He’d totally defied his doms, who treated him so lovingly and only wanted for him to be safe. There was no way he would ever confess (punishments were never worth it in Louis' book) but he at least wanted to make it up to them.

“Love you Nicky,” He murmured once he was free from his winter wear, wrapping his arms around Nick’s torso and holding him tightly.

Nick was caught off guard from both the words and behavior, but he seemed delighted.

“Come here sweet boy,” The dom carried Louis bridal style to the lounge, where they snugged together on the couch. Soon Harry joined them with three mugs of hot chocolate.

“Love you Hazza,” Louis told Harry as well, causing Harry to choke on his mouthful of hot chocolate and start coughing.

“What’s got you in such a lovable mood?” Nick asked curiously as Harry squeezed their sub tightly, as if he were a little teddy bear.

Louis shrugged. “Just...feeling good.”

The three soulmates stayed on the couch underneath the heated blanket. Louis mostly laid on top of Harry (with his legs on Nick’s lap) while the two watched a movie, and Nick used his iPad to check his social media.

A few minutes went by before Nick sat up a little straighter as he stared at his device, looking a bit confused.

“Tell me again Louis, did you have a nice walk around the neighborhood with Pig?”

Louis didn’t take his eyes from the television. “Yeah, it was nice…”

Nick passed him the iPad. “Would you care to explain this?”

Louis glanced down, Harry looking over his shoulder, and saw a recently published news article on display.

_DOM DUO NICK AND HARRY’S NEW SUB LOUIS TAKES DOG ON AFTERNOON STROLL THROUGH CENTRAL LONDON_

There was a rather high quality picture of Louis and Pig walking throughout the crowded streets together, and a small article underneath talking about the dom’s new sub, and wondering why he was out all by himself.

Oh dear.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT: Sorry this took awhile. I've been busy, and I also got this very hateful message over Tumblr about this story and I just felt like I needed a break, and I also want to address a few things about this story:
> 
> Some people are upset because they think Harry, Nick, Liam, ect are straight up abusive. If we were in our real life society, then yes obviously it would be abuse. But you have to understand that in this fictional world, it is the way things are. If a dom didn’t have so many restrictions over their sub, that would be considered strange and unprofessional. Doms love and cherish their subs but at the same time they have very, VERY controlling methods. 
> 
> Please keep in mind that it’s just a story, and if people are upset then simply read something happier. When I first started writing this, I was having a lot of fun with it, and I don’t want that to change (I feel like it’s starting to). 
> 
> Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! 
> 
> Happy Reading!

Usually Louis was good at standing up for himself and getting out of bad situations. Under the interrogation of his doms, however, was an entirely different circumstance. The sub had been maneuvered onto Harry’s lap where he was now being held firmly, and Nick was looking him directly in his eyes. 

“I want you to tell us what happened during your walk with pig,” Nick said. “Don’t even thinking about fibbing.”

Louis squirmed further into Harry’s chest. “Well, me and Pig did take a walk. We just went a little further than usual.”

“Into London,” Nick stated the obvious fact.

The sub sighed. “Yes, into London…”

“And just how did you get to London?”

There was an uneasy silence, and suddenly Louis grew irritated. “Do I have to say it out loud? You both know I took a bus.”

“Watch your tone Lou,” Nick warned.

“I don’t understand,” Harry finally spoke, his voice rather quiet. “Why did you come back?”

Louis tilted his head up so he could look at the curly haired dom. “Because I wasn’t running away or anything! I just...I wanted to go on a bus.”

Harry, suddenly growing much less tense now that he realized Louis hadn’t been trying to leave them, relaxed his posture slightly. “But what are your rules Lou? Why would you do something like that?”

“I know I’m not supposed to take a cab or bus,” Louis admitted, feeling ashamed. “It was just a retaliation, to show you that I’m fine taking public transportation. I really don’t need you guys driving me everywhere.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “A retaliation?”

Louis felt small and feeble, but he did his best to keep his voice strong. “Yes, that’s right.”

Louis thought that Nick would be the one to start lecturing, but instead it was Harry. “Do you know how dangerous it was of you to go out by yourself to London?”

“I had Pig…”

“Nick and I specifically told you not to take the bus. More importantly, you were supposed to only walk Pig in this neighborhood. You’ve broken two rules Louis. You put yourself in danger as well. We don’t make the rules to be mean, we make them for your own safety.”

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Nick asked.

“To be honest I wasn’t planning on getting caught. I guess I just wanted to do it for my own satisfaction, but I also forgot how famous you both are. I am really sorry though, I won’t do it again.”

Both of his doms stayed silent, and Louis began to panic. “A-Are you going to spank me? I don’t want to be spanked!”

“Do you think you deserve to be spanked?” Nick asked.

“No, of course not!” Louis said, “It was just a little bus ride.”

“But we told you not to take the bus.”

Feeling trapped, Louis decided that maybe he could guilt them out of it. “So maybe I did take the bus, but I still I love you Hazza, a-and Nicky. Please don’t punish me, I didn’t do anything crazy!”

Instantly Harry was cuddling him, and Nick’s hand ran through his hair to comfort him.

“We love you too kitten, and that’s why we have rules. But you know what happens when the rules are broken.”

“But it’s not fair,” Louis sniffled into Harry’s chest. “I miss being able to drive! You guys didn’t even ask, you just destroyed my license. And buses aren’t even bad, I used to take them all the time.”

“Thank you for letting us know about your feelings baby, that means a lot.” Harry said. “We’re glad that you’re sorry, but you still lied and broke our rules.”

Louis looked down dejectedly. He briefly glanced over toward the stairs, but Harry seemed to sense his thoughts of escaping and tightened his hold on the sub, kissing the top of Louis’ head.

“How many do I get?” Louis asked, closing his eyes in suspense.

Harry and Nick looked at each other.

“Ten,” Nick answered. “Five from Harry, and five from me.”

Louis opened his eyes. Ten? That wasn’t so bad, seeing as his first spanking had been fifteen from each, which measured up to a grand total of thirty.

Harry kissed the shell of his ear. “Since you were honest about where you went after I asked, and what your feelings are, you get off easier. Then we can forget about it and have something to eat. Now take your pants off.”

“You just like seeing my bum,” Louis accused both doms, but complied, albeit a bit slowly.

“I can’t really argue with you about that,” Nick agreed, rolling up his sleeves. “But we don’t get pleasure from hurting you darling, I can assure you with that fact.”

This punishment hadn’t been nearly as bad as his first spanking. A few minutes later Louis’ bottom was only stinging slightly. He hadn’t even cried, with the exception of his eyes getting a little watery. When it was over with, Harry coddled him while Nick went to set the table.

“Do I still get to take Pig on walks?” Louis asked rather timidly as he eyed the dog, who was curled up in front of the fireplace.

“Are you going to take her on anymore unsupervised city adventures?”

“Not without your permission.”

Harry smiled. “Then yes, you still get to take our Piggy on walks.”

The rest of Louis’ anxiety vanished, and he left Harry’s lap so that he could hug Pig, who had been curled up in the corner whining slightly in apprehension throughout Louis’ spanking.

“Am I ever going to be able to go into London by myself? You’ve let me and Niall before…”

“That was different,” Harry said. “Liam dropped you both off at the coffee shop. Roaming the London streets all alone is dangerous. People know who you are Lou, because of me and Nick’s prominent role over the radio. That makes the situation riskier.”

“I guess I can understand that,” Louis relented slightly, shuddering at the thought of being stalked or something of the sort.

"Good," Harry said. "If something happened to you Louis...well, I'm not sure what I would do. I just want you safe, okay? Nick too."

Even if Louis sill had his disagreements, he felt slightly better knowing that at least his doms' hearts were in the right place. 

 ___________________

 

“Wow Zayn, that’s pretty incredible.”

“Thanks,” The dark haired sub glanced at Louis briefly before turning his attention back to his painting. It wasn’t anything particular, but the shapes and colors somehow favored the abstract design. 

They were upstairs in Zayn’s studio. It was probably Louis’ favorite room in the house. The walls were spray painted, and various works were on display all over the place. Some of Zayn’s work was exhibited throughout the rest of the house, but this room seemed to hold his more meaningful ones. 

"Wish I was good at art,” Louis said ruefully, pushing a few paint brushes aside so that he could sit on an extra stool as he watched his friend work. “I feel pretty useless these days to be honest…”

Zayn set his brush aside and turned to face Louis, a small smile gracing his face. “Do you want to know a little secret?”

Louis raised an eyebrow, shrugging. “Sure, why not.”

Zayn crossed the room to retrieve his laptop from a shelf, and then headed toward the small sofa. He patted the seat beside him as an indicator for Louis to join him, and so he did. 

“Look here,” Zayn said, passing him the computer. Louis took it and looked at the screen, which displayed a website with beautiful artwork for sale...artwork that looked very similar to Zayns’. 

“I made this site a few months ago,” The sub explained himself. “It’s been growing pretty popular, and some people actually enjoy buying my pieces. I stay anonymous obviously, and I just give the money to charity. But it just feels good, you know? Contributing to society or whatever the hell you want to call it.”

Louis grinned. “That’s brilliant! You’re a proper famous artist then, huh?”

Zayn looked pleased. “Sure, whatever. Just keep it on the downlow, okay? Don’t go tattling to Nick and Harry.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is anyway. It’s not like you’re doing anything wrong.”

“Nevertheless, there’s no way to know if Liam would make me shut it down. Doms don’t like a lot of attention directed at their subs. Most famous sub artists have to remain anonymous or title their work under their dom’s name.”

“But you said you’re anonymous, so won’t that just work out?”

“Still,” Zayn was firm. “Liam can be paranoid about those types of things. I just don’t want to risk losing something that I have all to myself, you know?”

“Yeah,” Louis nodded, because it made sense. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Good,” Zayn closed out of the site and returned the computer to its shelf. “It’s getting close to five, isn’t that when Harry is picking you up?”

“Oh yeah,” Louis checked the time on his phone. “We all have to have an early dinner and bedtime tonight. Most weeknights actually, since their show is so damn early. Don’t get me wrong, I do like being at BBC.”

“I like going to the hospital with Liam too,” Zayn said. “But sometimes it’s nice to be alone. It’s rare when you’re in a three persons relationship, yeah?”

“True,” Louis agreed. “I wish I wasn’t the only sub in my relationship though. I guess I’d feel more at ease sharing my opinions with someone else who understood.”

Zayn nudged his shoulder. “That’s what I’m for. Niall too, even though I feel like most of the serious shit goes over his head.”

“Tell me about it,” Louis snorted. “Sometimes I wonder if he keeps it all bottled up inside, or refuses to acknowledge his situation. Seriously, being three hours away from home is far enough for me. A whole fucking country though….”

“Or he’s just normal,” Zayn suggested. “I mean, most every sub just gives in, like we did. It’s the way things are, you know? It has been since the beginning. At least there’s a few protection laws for us now. Remember, Doms used to be much more brutal.”

“Disgusting,” Louis muttered, thinking back to his history class. It used to be the norm for subs to be beaten cruelly for just about anything. In the 1800’s a sub could be whipped for even the smallest of things, such as speaking out of term or questioning the methods of a dom. 

Today there were certain laws in place, and they did help a bit. No permanent scarring was allowed to be leftover from punishments. Objects like brushes and paddles couldn’t be used on the face, and not in public either. Most places like restaurants and stores had a private room in the back where a dom could go to ‘correct’ a misbehaving sub. Sometimes a particularly brash dom would slap their sub in the face, but only with the hand. 

Despite these laws, they were only helpful to an extent. A dom could be fined for abusing his or her sub, or maybe spend a bit of time behind bars. However, subs were only removed from their doms in the absolutely worst case scenarios. The court liked to keep soulmates together as much as they could, because a broken bond was unhealthy. 

That was why fate was terrifying, with the chance of getting stuck with a straight up vicious dom. As far as doms went, Harry and Nick were pretty normal. They only used their hands for spankings, and Louis even got to go out and visit his friends, and walk Pig despite the bus incident. Eventually he was sure that he would get even more freedom, but he knew things could have been a lot worse. 

But the question remained, would subs ever be on the same level as their doms? It was pretty hard to believe, but society always changed overtime. There was even talk about sub rights protest groups, which was bizarre but interesting. Maybe someday subs would even be able to vote (although, Louis decided, probably not in his lifetime). 

A knock on the door startled both subs from their thoughts. 

“That’s gotta be Haz,” Louis stood up. “Tell Niall that I said hi. Maybe the three of us could go out soon or something.”

“I’ll tell him,” Zayn said. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Good luck with your secret art!” Louis said, exiting the room and returning downstairs. He grabbed his jacket from the rack, slid on his shoes, and went for the door. Harry was on the porch steps, wearing sunglasses and a cheerful smile. 

“Hi Lou,” He greeted, and Louis couldn’t help but feel a rush of warmth flow through him at the sight of his dom. Harry took Louis’ hand and led him down the driveway, taking the time to open the passenger's’ seat door for him. Louis liked it when only one dom was in the car so he could sit in the front. It made him feel a bit more like an equal. 

“Did you have a good time with Zayn?” Harry asked, still all smiles. He was obviously relieved. Both he and Nick had been a bit cautious to let Louis over when Liam was out of the house working, but they’d eventually relented after Louis had pleaded enough.

Louis rested his knees against the dashboard. “It was fantastic. We went all over town, vandalized buildings, got drunk, had a party, and even went clubbing afterwards...all within three hours.”

“Good to know,” Harry nodded. “Next time invite me to the party though.”

“Maybe,” Louis said. “What are we eating tonight?”

“Nick’s making a stir fry, and I made cupcakes for dessert.”

“Sounds good,” Louis told him, smiling at how absolutely happy Harry seemed to be in his presence. He was feeling in a rather good mood, looking forward to going to BBC tomorrow. As time passed he was becoming less awkward and more confident over the radio. It pretty much felt like it was his job too, since he got to help pick out playlists and join his doms in conversation over the radio. It was nice to have doms with such entertaining jobs, that was for sure.   
  


 

___________________

 

The next morning, about half an hour into the radio show, things got a bit interesting.

“It appears that one of our listeners, Samantha, has called with a question for Louis,” Nick announced the news. “Lou kitten, how would you like to have a little chat with her over the radio?”

“Sure,” Louis said, feeling rather pleased. Apparently many of the listeners adored him. Louis had looked over the internet, Twitter in particular, and people always discussed him after the early morning radio show. 

“Alright, let’s put her on then.”

After a few minutes, the call connected. 

“Good morning Samantha,” Louis greeted the girl. 

“Hello Louis,” A kind, if not slightly timid sounding girl, replied. “I love it when you’re on in the morning. I listen all the time when I get ready for school.”

Louis grinned, while his doms beamed proudly. “Thanks love, I’m glad. Was there something in particular you wanted to ask me?”

“There was, actually,” She giggled softly. “Um, I wanted to know how you first met Nick and Harry. Like, if it was good? Because yesterday my older sister’s dom showed up and it wasn’t pretty.”

Louis was caught off guard, but he grimaced at the all too familiar tale. “I’m sorry about your sister, but she’ll probably end up being just fine. I was a bit freaked out when Nick and Harry came for me as well.”

The sub refused to look at his doms. Feeling rather cheeky, (and a little brave since he was live on the radio) he continued to talk.

“For all of the lovely doms listening out there, allow me to let you in on a little sub secret. Waiting for our dom to arrive is probably the most terrifying thing we go through, so you could be a little more understanding.”

After it came from his mouth, Louis tensed at the realization that he’d practically insulted all doms live over the radio, including his own. Nick’s arm wound a little tighter around his shoulders comfortingly though, and Harry spoke. 

“Doms get excited! I mean, we wait forever to find our subs. There’s no set date for a dom to find out who they are, unlike subs who know when they’re eighteen. You just get...erm, caught up in the moment is all!”

“You carried me out of my house in the middle of the night kicking and screaming,” Louis said dryly. “You could have waited until morning. I mean, it was my birthday and Christmas Eve.”

“But I made you a really nice cake.”

Louis rested his hand on Harry’s knee. “Yes, and I appreciate that. All I’m saying is that doms could be a bit more compassionate about our situation.”

“Give us a little effort, we tried being patient. You’re the one who ran and locked yourself in your room at the very sight of us.”

“Finding out that you have two doms is a very nerve wracking thing!” 

“So...so it wasn’t a good experience?” Samantha spoke up, and Louis had forgotten she was even on the phone. 

“It could have gone better,” Louis admitted. “But that’s okay. They were actually really nice after the initial ‘carry the frightened sub from his home’, but it was all so overwhelming at the time.”

“You’re okay now though.” Nick stated, but it sounded hesitant, worried. “You’re so well behaved and just genuinely perfect...most of the time.”

“Thanks,” Louis chuckled. “Yeah I’m good. I mean, I get gourmet meals and daily backrubs. Famous DJ dom’s aren’t so bad. I could have gotten someone a lot worse, like Susan Boyle or something. At least you two are good looking.”

“I don’t think she’s a dom Lou, or even a sub for that matter,” Harry informed him. “But I think we should let Samantha get back to getting ready for school now.”

“Right,” Louis nodded. “Have a nice day Samantha!”

“Thanks,” The girl sounded much more cheerful now, as she hung up. 

Nick took over the radio. “Now that you know the details of our first meeting, you can all ponder it over the sound of Adele’s latest single!” 

As the song started, the soulmate trio removed their headsets. 

Louis looked at his doms apprehensively. “You guys aren’t mad, are you?”

“No, I wish our first encounter could have gone better too,” Nick confessed. “We know you weren’t trying to rebel against us or anything.”

“It does appear that #SubSecret is beginning to trend on Twitter now,” Harry notified them, scrolling through his phone. “Well done Louis, people seriously take what you say to heart.”

“Thanks, wow that’s a bit strange” Louis said, but was unable to keep the smirk of satisfaction off his face, at the fact that he could be influential. It was small, but maybe one of the dom listeners would actually remember his words when they went to meet their sub, and that alone would be amazing. 

 

 

___________________

 

Later during the evening, Louis was looking online for a potential birthday present for Harry (his birthday was coming up this February according to Nick) and the news played on the television in the background. 

Harry and Nick were in their office planning for some upcoming events having to do with work. A rather depressing story emerged on the news about a sub from America who had managed to run away to Australia and live her life for almost seven years before being found out, something that was practically unheard of. 

In most modern day countries, there were many different government facilities that dealt with connecting soulmates. Usually doms, or even those with purple dots, could find their soulmates relatively easy without help. Some scientists compared soulmate connections to birds flying south for the winter. They just knew internally where to go, and it was the same case with soulmates.

Those who needed help got it relatively quick though. Sometimes soulmates had trouble tracking one another down, especially if a sub was trying to hide his or herself. 

Clicking off the television, Louis stood up and stretched. 

Perhaps an early bedtime would be good, the sub decided, and so he went upstairs. Tonight, for some reason, Louis felt like he wanted full attention from his doms. He forwent his usual sweatpants and t-shirt and instead opted for a pair of red sleep shorts (yes, quite short) that would compliment his bottom, and no shirt. 

He took a hot shower, relaxing under the spray as he scrubbed himself with his vanilla essence body wash. When he finally emerged dressed in only his pajama shorts, water droplets still clinging to his tummy and back, he felt quite nice.

Nick and Harry, it seemed, had finished their work and were waiting for him in the bedroom. Upon catching sight of their sub, Louis could see both of their eyes glaze over with slight arousal as they took in his appearance. 

“Hi,” Louis simply said, feeling quite smug under the attention. He went over to wrap his arms around Nick, who immediately returned the hug, hands sliding down to cup his sub’s bottom. 

Harry joined them and didn’t hold back as he kissed Louis and suggested, “Why don’t we take this to the bed?”

“Why not?” Louis agreed, unable to hold back a smile as he was scooped up by Nick and carried over to the large comfortable bed.

 

 

___________________

 

“Are- Are you serious?” Louis giggled, snuggling closer to Harry as he listened to the rather hilarious story about Nick and Harry’s sex life before Louis had come around. 

“Completely,” Harry replied. “We’d both just sort of wrestle around in the bed. It was like hate sex but like, without the hate?”

“I mostly came out on top when we first got together,” Nick stated proudly. “Which made sense because I’m older and was more experienced.”

“Age doesn’t matter,” Harry argued. “A dominant is a dominant.”

“But either way, most of the time the sex was pretty good...well, for whoever ended up on top.”

Louis was almost in tears at picturing the scene of two doms having sex alone. He was, rather proudly to admit, no longer a virgin. 

All previous apprehension about sex was now gone. It was...different than Louis had expected. Nick and Harry were gentle, but at the same time also quite ascendant with the whole ‘dominant’ influence in bed.  During some points it felt like the two doms were competing with one another, but mostly they seemed to work in sync, ensuring Louis’ satisfaction as well as each other’s and their own. 

The most important factor about what whole things was that Louis had felt...protected. His doms took care of everything. 

He was safe, he was relaxed, and he felt good. 

“Well, at least our aggressive non-hate sex can come to an end,” Harry commented, kissing the tip of Louis’ note as he drew the sub closer to him. 

“What a relief,” Nick agreed, stretching his arm out so that he could wrap it around both Louis and Harry. 

“Happy to be of service,” Louis muttered, suddenly feeling quite worn out as he cuddled bare skinned and close to his warm and comforting doms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think, your comments always encourage me! xoxo


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long period of deadness...my only excuse is college. Those of you attending university might understand me better.
> 
> Thank you so much for the encouraging messages last chapter! It helped boost my self-esteem! :)

“I’ll pick you up at ten thirty, that should be around the time the movie ends.” 

 

“Okay, thanks Hazza.”

 

Louis kissed his dom on the cheek before climbing out of the car. This evening he was going to be seeing a movie with Niall, who had texted Louis last minute and asked if he’d come along. Louis, never wanting to pass up an opportunity to be with his friend, had immediately agreed. 

 

Niall met Louis as soon as he entered the cinema. “Lou!” 

 

Louis returned the hug. “Hey Ni, I’ve missed you. I’m also really excited, the trailer for this movie looked awesome!”

 

Niall giggled a little nervously, biting his lip. “Well I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we’re not going to see any films tonight.”

 

“We’re not?” Louis cocked his head to the side. 

 

“Nah, we’re going to a pub. I need a drink.”

 

“Oh…” Louis blinked. Nick and Harry probably wouldn’t like the idea of him going to a pub. They hadn’t really specified any rules about drinking. Of course Louis was eighteen, so it wasn’t a serious thing. His doms might think differently about it though, and there was the fact that one of his rules was informing his doms where he went. 

 

“Um, I’m not really sure if that’s a good idea Nialler. I’ll have to check with Nick and Harry first.”

 

Just as Louis pulled out his phone to text Harry, Niall shocked him by grabbing his hand and lowering it. “Lou, I just need some sub time. No doms allowed, okay? I promise we’ll be back at the cinema by the time your doms pick you up. You don’t even have to drink.”

 

It was then that Louis realized something was wrong with Niall. He was smiling, but it wasn’t his usual easygoing grin. There was something clouded behind his bright blue eyes. It was the first time Louis had ever seen the carefree sub look troubled. 

 

“Alright Ni,” Louis finally relented. “Um...does Liam know you’re here? Or Zayn?”

 

“Nope,” Niall answered, taking his friend’s hand. “Come on, I know a great place down the street.”

 

“Is it discreet?” Louis asked, thinking back to when people had taken pictures of him during his walk in the city with Pig. 

 

“Oh yeah, plus people will probably be too drunk to even recognize you.”

 

They walked down the dark street for a few minutes until they came to Niall’s desired pub. It was small and a tad bit sketchy, but then again Louis has never really been to a bar before. 

 

The two subs immediately found some seats in the back corner. Niall ordered a drink no problem, not even being asked for an id, while Louis politely declined. He was already feeling quite on edge about this whole thing. 

 

He decided to focus his thoughts on Niall.  “Are you okay? You seem...I dunno, sort of upset.”

 

Niall took a swig of his beer. “I’m fine, just being dumb.”

 

When the blonde haired boy didn’t elaborate, Louis sat back with a sigh, glancing at his phone. Thirty minutes had passed since Harry dropped him off, which meant they only had around an hour and a half of time left before he’d be back.

 

Since Niall wasn’t in a talking mood, Louis quietly played around on his phone while Niall ordered more drinks. 

 

“You know what really sucks?” Niall spoke up sometime later, eyes glazed over with the obvious signs of beginning intoxication. 

 

“What?” Louis asked, finally eager for some openness with his friend. 

 

“The fact that I’m the better sub, but I still get put in second place,” He said. “I’m the one who had to leave Ireland, but I made myself happy about it. I’ve never run away, or complained…”

 

Niall’s lower lip was trembling, and his mood had changed so fast that Louis was beginning to grow alarmed. 

 

“Did something happen at home Ni? With Liam and Zayn?”

 

“Nothing happened that isn’t normal. Zayn gets punished for fighting with Liam, but he still gets to ride in the passenger’s seat, he still gets the most cuddles, he still gets looked after the most. I’m home ten minutes late and I get spanked and sent to bed, but Zayn calls Liam an asshole and has to come to work with him all day. How is that fair?”

 

Louis sat in silence and let his friend ramble. He was shocked that Niall could actually be upset. As far as he’d known, there wasn’t much drama that occurred from the trio of the two subs and their dom. If anything, he thought Zayn was the most unhappy. He wasn’t so much blatant unhappiness, it was more like defeated. 

 

“Maybe I should run away,” Niall muttered. “Obviously that worked for Zayn. Then Liam would realize how much he needs me.”

 

Louis rested his hand over Niall’s. “Hey, listen to me Nialler. I know for a fact both Liam and Zayn love you very much.”

 

“But they love each other more,” Niall insisted. “Is it because they’ve been together longer? I can’t help being younger than them…”

 

“It’s impossible for soulmate groups to love one over the other,” Louis said, remembering Nick mentioning it once or twice in conversation. After all, he and Harry had been together for a long time before Louis, but that didn’t change their equal amount of love for him. 

 

Niall was at this point quite drunk, grumbling to himself pitifully. There was no way they’d be able to make it back to the cinema in time. Worst of all, how was Niall getting home? He’d mentioned that Liam didn’t even know he was here. Was he looking for him at this very moment? 

 

This had to be resolved. Louis was currently on his dom’s good side, and he didn’t want that to change. “I’m going to the bathroom,” Louis announced in a state of panic. “Stay here Niall.” 

 

As soon as he reached the restrooms, Louis whipped out his phone and dialed Harry’s number. It only had to ring once before his curly haired dom answered. 

 

“Hey Louis, we were just heading out to come get you. We were thinking of stopping to get ice cream on the way back, how does that sound?’

 

There was an uneasy pause, as Louis had no idea what to say.

 

Harry seemed to pick up on the tension. “Lou? Is everything alright?”

 

The sub took a breath. “Er, no. Not really.”

 

There was a shifting sound from the other end. “You’re on speaker Louis. What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine!” Louis assured them. “Just not Niall...I don’t know what to do. He’s drunk, and I don’t know if Liam knows, and he’s upset, and I just got scared…”

 

“Slow down darling,” Nick stopped his rambling. “Take a deep breath and tell us where you are.”

 

Louis did as he was instructed, breathing deeply before informing his doms of the pub’s name. 

 

“Give us ten minutes,” Harry said. “Stay with Niall, don’t go anywhere.”

 

After hanging up, Louis went back to his friend. Instead of sitting across from him, he sat next to Niall and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Niall immediately rested his head in the crook of Louis’ neck. 

 

“Everything’s fine Ni,” Louis assured him, running a hand through the tousled blonde hair. 

 

“Let’s run ‘way Lou,” Niall said softly. “We can go to Ireland.”

 

“Niall, you love you soulmates,” Louis reminded him. “Whatever this is, it can be fixed. They’re probably going to be worried sick about you.”

 

Niall sighed, closing his eyes. “Don’t want to be in trouble…”

 

Louis didn’t really have anything to say to that. Personally he hoped that he wouldn’t be in trouble himself. It would be quite unfair if he were to be punished. After all, he’d been the responsible one tonight. 

 

A few minutes later, Nick and Harry both entered the pub. Louis automatically felt relieved as they came over to him. 

 

“Are you alright?” Harry asked urgently, checking his sub over. 

 

“I’m fine,” Louis told him. “I haven’t drank or anything...Niall’s properly drunk though. He’s upset, and Liam’s probably looking for him.”

 

“He is,” Nick informed Louis, but was looking at Niall. “Niall, your dom is worried sick about you. He called me a few minutes ago to see if you were at our place. Why don’t you come with us so we can get you home to him?”

 

Niall, who was distraught over the sudden appearance of Louis’ doms, shook his head. 

 

“I’m having fun here,” He said. “Not r-ready yet…” 

 

“I think we’ve had enough to drink, huh?” Harry intervened, gently prying Niall’s newest drink from his hand. “Let’s go out to the car now.”

 

Louis assisted Harry with dragging a reluctant Niall outside, while Nick stayed behind briefly to scold the bartender for serving subs without the permission of any dom. There wasn’t exactly a law against it, but it was still usually customary for a proper establishment to only serve subs alcoholic beverages with the permission of their dom. 

 

The car ride ended up being awkward at best. Niall clung tightly to Louis in the backseat. The two doms in the car didn’t say much, Harry driving and Nick staring out the window. Niall began to protest when he realized they were heading in the direction of his house. 

 

“Why are we going home? I don’t want to go home! Louis, I want to sleep at yours…”

 

“It’s okay Nialler,” Louis soothed. “Liam’s worried. He does love you, see?”

 

Niall began to cry. “Want to go to your place.”

 

Louis bit his lip. Upon seeing his own sub getting distressed, Nick stepped in. “We’ll have you over soon Niall, you’re always welcome at our home. But right now your dom needs you. He was going to get you himself, but I promised him we’d get you back in one piece.”

 

“He’s gonna s-spank me,” Niall hiccupped. 

 

“You don’t know that for sure,” Louis said, but it was obvious that a spanking would more than likely be the case. After all, Niall had mentioned getting punished for being ten minutes late. Sneaking out to get drunk was a little worse than that. 

 

Niall stopped talking for the last few minutes of the ride, growing to be on the verge of sleep. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, Liam rushed out of the house before they had even parked properly. 

 

Nick got out to open the side door. 

 

“Niall!” Liam looked to be in a panic. “Thank god. What on earth were you thinking?!”

 

“Hi Lee,” Niall groggily opened his arms, and Liam swept him into a hug before helping him unbuckle. 

 

“He’s not dangerously drunk, but he’ll probably be hungover tomorrow.” Nick informed Liam. 

 

“Thank you so much for bringing him home,” Liam said, shaking Nick and Harry’s hands in gratitude. He turned his attention back to Niall, who looked like he would be falling asleep again in another minute. 

 

“Come on baby, let’s get you into bed,” Liam whispered, scooping the blonde sub as if he weighed nothing and carrying him bridal style to the house. 

 

Louis caught sight of Zayn in the doorway and gave an awkward wave as Nick closed the door and got back into the car. 

 

Nobody spoke for a few minutes. 

 

“Well,” Harry finally said. “This night turned out to be more eventful than I was expecting.”

 

Louis bit his lip, wringing his hands together tightly. 

 

Nick caught his eye in the rearview mirror, turning around to face him. “What’s wrong kitten? Everything will alright now. Whatever is happening with Niall will be fixed now that Liam has him.”

 

“Am I going to be in trouble?” Louis asked nervously. “I swear that I thought we were going to the movies...I even showed you the text.”

 

“We know that darling,” Nick said. “And you also called us, which was exactly the right thing to do. So to answer your question, no, you aren’t in any trouble.”

 

Louis’ shoulders slumped in relief. 

 

“But we are going to have to confirm things with Liam from now on, whenever you and Niall decide to hang out,” Harry spoke. 

 

“Okay,” Louis said, because that was reasonable. “Um...are we still going to get ice cream?”

 

* * *

The next day, Louis was about to call Niall before Nick intervened.

 

“Louis, I’d wait until tomorrow to call. I think he’s going to be occupied today.”

 

Louis frowned. “Oh, right…”

 

Nick kissed the top of his head. “You don’t need to worry about anything. What goes on with soulmates stays between soulmates. They’ll figure everything out I’m sure.”

 

Both Nick and Harry were a little more informed about the situation after Louis had told them the whole story last night, in between worried spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream. Of course he was kissed and cuddled until he fell asleep, but the worry had started again upon waking up. 

 

“I’ve just never seen Niall...unhappy,” Louis sighed. “Seriously, if you’ve known him for as long as I have, you’d know this never happens.”

 

“Nobody can be happy all the time, as wonderful as that would be.”

 

In order to distract their sub from his worries, Nick and Harry took him out to lunch for Italians and hot chocolate with a few of their co-workers. Louis fidgeted the whole time, hardly being able to eat. Finally unable to take it any longer, he went to the restroom and called Zayn. 

 

He didn’t pick up, which only worsened his anxiety. 

 

“Let’s go to the pet store,” Nick suggested when they had finished their meal. 

 

Louis raised an eyebrow. “Are we getting a new pet?”

 

“No, we’re getting Piggy some new presents. I’m sure you can help me find some new toys for her, hmm?” Nick asked, kissing a tuft of his sub’s soft hair. 

 

They went to a pet store that was higher class at best, with fancy gadgets and toys. Harry immediately went over to admire the cage of chinchillas in the small animal section, whilst Louis followed Nick to the dog aisle. 

 

Louis picked out a red ruby colored leash and harness, and a squeaker toy that resembled a piece of large broccoli. He passed them over to Nick’s arms and continued to wander the store. Eventually he reached the darkened back of the store, where the fish were on display. 

 

He stood admiring the many different types of fish for awhile. They were quite calming and peaceful to watch. 

 

“My lovely darling, would you like a fish?” Harry asked, wrapping his arms around Louis’ waist from behind. 

 

“A fish?” Louis brightened. “Like… you mean right now? Today?”

 

“Sure,” Harry shrugged. “Let’s go pick out a bowl and some decorations first.”

 

Louis selected a small bowl fit for a single goldfish, along with some rainbow pebbles and a little hide-away cave. Harry carried the items for him as they went back to the live fish section, Nick joining them. 

 

They left the store fifteen minutes later, Louis carefully holding onto a bag containing his new goldfish, a small orange and white creature with bulging eyes. 

 

Setting up a home for his new fish distracted Louis, and before he knew it dinner had already come around. After eating a delicious meal of pasta salad and marinated chicken, Louis went to his personal room to try giving Zayn another call. 

 

Once again, it went to voicemail. 

 

He left a quick message. “Give me a call back Zayn, please? Thanks.”

 

Louis went back downstairs, curling up between his doms while on his phone, scrolling through Twitter. It seemed that he was gaining a good number of followers daily, but the count always increased like wildfire whenever he went on the radio with Nick and Harry. He usually answered calls to people with questions. More often these were younger listeners who weren’t yet sixteen, or sometimes subs. 

 

He even got dozens of messages from people, mostly encouraging ones. 

 

**Hi Louis, my name is Carla and I’m a dom. My sub loves listening to you - in fact I’d go far enough to say he’s obsessed with listening to you. So thanks for making him happy!**

 

**Louis, as a sub to THREE doms, I love listening to you interact with your own. You have some lovely eye-opening opinions on our strange society. Can’t wait till you’re on again xx**

 

**louis omg i love you so much and you make me happy. im not sixteen yet but my brother just got the black dot! go on the radio again pllzzz!!!!! :)**

 

**Back off sub, you have no right to judge doms and our behavior. Your own doms ought to put you in your place. If you were my dom you wouldn’t sit down for a week.**

 

Louis rolled his eyes at the last message he opened. 

 

“Maybe it’s a bad idea letting you have a Twitter,” Nick, who had been reading over his shoulder, said. “I don’t like rude people sending you messages at all.”

 

“They don’t bother me!” Louis spoke up. “I like my Twitter!”

 

“At least block that dom,” Harry said, snatching the phone from Louis’ hand and blocking the guy himself. “We need to check your social media more often. If I find out you’re getting too many rude messages then you’re at least changing your settings to private.”

 

“Alright Haz,” Louis agreed quietly, having to resist the urge to snap in annoyance. It wasn’t fair that they could log onto his social media whenever they wanted, but he didn’t want to lose the privilege all together. 

 

Speaking of social media, Louis mostly stayed off Facebook. His settings were already private on there, it was usually a means for keeping up with his school mates. He didn’t really use any other social media sites, aside from Instagram (but that was just full of pictures of Pig). 

 

Suddenly his phone buzzed. Louis snatched it out of Harry’s hands, hoping that it was Zayn. Much to his disappointment, it was only a text from his mother confirming their visit for next week. 

 

The feeling of Nick’s hand running up and down his side caused Louis to squirm, setting his phone aside. 

 

“Want to head up to bed now?” Harry asked, seeing the look in Nick’s eye. 

 

“Yes, it is quite late,” Nick replied, scooping the sub off the couch and following Harry to the staircase. 

 

“Wha- it’s not even eight o’clock yet-mmm!” Louis pointed out, muffled from a kiss. 

 

As worried about his friend as he was, Louis allowed himself to become lost in the pleasant distraction of his soulmates. The thought of Niall upset and possibly hurt made him terribly distraught. He would find out tomorrow no matter what, even if he had to go to their house himself. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was sort of a filler chapter. A lot of you wanted drunk Louis- that's coming, I swear!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed reading it, I'll be back soon!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait. A lot of things have been going on, both with college and personal stuff. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me and given me encouragement, it means a lot!

The next day, after Zayn had once again not answered his phone, Louis decided that he needed to personally make sure Niall was okay. That was why he sought out the dom whom he deemed easiest to persuade when it came for asking for things. 

 

“Hazza,” Louis said, entering the bedroom where Harry was changing the sheets of the bed. 

 

Harry smiled at him. “Hi lovely Lou. Come to help me with the housework?”

 

“I already did the breakfast dishes,” Louis reminded him. “I had something I wanted to ask.”

 

The dom finished tucking the sheets neatly over the pillows before looking at Louis and giving the sub all of his attention. “What do you need, Darling?”

 

“Can I go to Niall and Zayn’s today? You and Nick have that meeting, so you could just drop me off on the way…” Louis stopped talking when he saw Harry’s smile fade. 

 

“Has Niall called you?” Harry asked. 

 

“Well no, not yet, but-”

 

“Then you shouldn’t disturb them. Sometimes after big fights, or when a bond becomes weakened, soulmates need alone time. Wait until Niall calls you, and then we can figure something out.”

 

Louis felt annoyed. Niall was probably going through hell right now. He hadn’t been with his doms long enough to be an expert, but he was sure that Liam (even as kind and sweet as he usually was) would most likely punish Niall terribly, and Niall shouldn’t have to suffer alone. 

 

Harry kissed his forehead. “Settle down Lou. Nick and I have to leave in about an hour, but the meeting won’t last too long, we’re just going over a few things with our producers. Would you like to come with us, or stay here?”

 

Louis loved going to his doms’ work, but he was feeling sulky. “Here.”

 

“Alright, if you’re sure,” Harry said. “But you’re not to leave the house while we’re gone, alright?”

 

Louis didn’t say anything, arms crossed. 

 

Harry lifted his chin so their eyes met. “I’d like an answer please.”

 

“Alright!” Louis huffed. “I’ll stay here, geesh.”

 

“Thank you,” Harry said, not reprimanding him for his attitude. 

 

Close to an hour later, Nick and Harry left the house. They promised that when they got back, the three of them would take Pig to play at the dog park, as it was an unusually warm February day. He was also instructed to keep his phone on his at all times and not to answer the door to anyone who he didn’t know. Louis snarkily replied that he wasn’t five years old, which got him a single swatt on the bum before his goodbye kisses. 

 

Five minute after the doms had pulled out of the driveway, Louis went back and tried calling Zayn again. When it went to voicemail, Louis decided that he couldn’t stand it anymore. As a loyal friend, he needed to check on Niall’s wellbeing. 

 

He grabbed his coat from the hanger, but as he started for the door, he heard a whine. Pig was staring at him, her head cocked to the side as if asking, ‘you sure about this Lou?’. 

 

“Piggy-Pig,” He sighed guiltily. “I’m going to be quick. I’ll just pop in, make sure Niall isn’t being beaten, and then come home. You understand, don’t you?”

 

Pig huffed through her black nose, and Louis took that as his cue to go. 

 

* * *

 

It took almost two minutes for the door to open after he’d knocked. When it did, Louis came face to face with Liam. The dom was dressed down in sweatpants and a t-shirt, looking rather tired. Louis shrunk back slightly, even though he knew it would be Liam answering the door (it was usually customary for Doms to answer the door anyhow).

 

“Louis?” Liam raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?” 

 

“I just wanted to see Niall,” The sub responded, shifting uneasily on his feet and trying not to look past Liam and into the house. It seemed too quiet...just how badly was Niall being punished?

 

Liam sighed, moving aside from the doorway. “Come in then. Do Nick and Harry know you’re here?”

 

Louis’ silence was a good enough answer, and the dom appeared exasperated. “I’ll go call them. Niall and Zayn are in the living room.”

 

When Louis entered the living room, he was greeted with a rather shocking scene. His two sub friends were cuddled together on the sofa, burrowed underneath a mountain of blankets. The table in front of the couch was adorned with snacks such as chips, cookies, cheese, and pastries. The television was paused, but it looked like a Marvel movie was playing. 

 

“Louis,” Zayn blinked. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Oh Lou,” Niall spoke before Louis could respond. “I was going to call you tonight, to apologize, we’ve just all had our phones put away. I should have never dragged you to a pub like that. I didn’t get you in trouble, did I?”

 

“N-No,” Louis said, still quite confused as he watched Zayn tighten his hold on Niall and kiss his shoulder. The last time he’d seen Niall, the sub and drunkenly voiced his displeasure of Zayn’s treatment compared to his own.  “I just wanted to make sure you were okay after...um, seeing you so upset the other night.”

 

Niall continued to look guilty. “It’s- I’m alright. Or rather, we’re all going to be alright…”

 

Suddenly Louis grew a sense of understanding, and he realized why Harry and Nick had wanted him to leave his friends alone for the time being. They really were spending quiet, private time together...to help sooth and strengthen their soulbond once again. It was just as Harry had explained this morning.

 

He shouldn’t have come here; he was interrupting a sensitive, special time for the soulmates. Louis felt ashamed, biting his bottom lip rather hard. Luckily Liam reentered the room, saving him from having to speak. 

 

“Your doms are on their way to get you,” Liam said, settling in between his subs on the couch and pulling them both into his arms. Niall immediately closed his eyes, snuggling up to his dom. In return, Liam kissed the top of his blonde head. 

 

After a moment, Louis awkwardly took a seat in one of the armchairs. Liam restarted the movie, but he seemed more focused on his subs. Louis squirmed, feeling quite out of place. He wanted to be at his own home, with his own soulmates, but thanks to his stupidity they were going to be mad. 

 

Thankfully Louis didn’t have to wait long. When he heard the car pull into the driveway, Louis showed himself out of the house, not wanting Liam to get up and disturb his now sleeping soulmates. 

 

Nick met him outside the car, opening the backseat door for him. Harry was in the driver’s seat. Louis got in, feeling himself blush in embarrassment. He avoided eye contact with both his doms, looking down at his hands and twisting them together nervously.

 

“You took another bus, didn’t you?” Nick grimaced as Harry silently started driving home. 

 

Finally, Louis took a deep breath. “M’sorry. I shouldn’t have gone over...I realize that now. I should have listened to you and Haz.”

 

Nick didn’t respond at first, but then he reached back and took Louis’ hand into his own, rubbing his knuckles. “I just hope you fully understand someday...Harry and I don’t give orders to be mean. As doms, we look out for your best interests.”

 

“I know,” Louis hung his head. “I deserve punishment for disobeying. I won’t fight it…”

 

“You told Harry that you wouldn’t leave the house,” Nick said. “So I think he’ll be the one disciplining you.”

 

Louis turned to look at his other dom, who was staring at him silently. Even though it was only a few seconds, the silence was deafening. 

 

“I’m sure you know what to expect,” Harry finally said. “I’m disappointed in you Lou, for disregarding what I asked of you.”

 

Louis felt absolutely stupid, because he always managed to ruin everything. Today probably would have been a really nice day if he had just listened. Now there would be no dog park. He also hated having Harry disappointed with him. It then occurred to Louis that Harry and Nick’s meeting had been interrupted as well. 

 

When they arrived home, Harry took Louis upstairs to the master bedroom and spanked him. Louis didn’t fight it, because honestly he felt bad and he knew that punishment would ease some of his guilt. It hurt like hell, but it was over quickly enough. Afterwards, Harry pulled Louis so that he was sitting on his lap. 

 

“I understand why you went to see Niall,” Harry spoke softly to him. “You are a very good friend, but you need to learn to listen to your doms. The reason you were being punished was for leaving the house and disobeying my direct request.”

 

“I know,” Louis sniffed quietly. “I’m sorry Hazza.”

 

Harry kissed his tears away. “I know Darling, you’re forgiven now.”

 

Even if he was forgiven, Louis felt an unexplainable need to receive comfort from his doms. He wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck, nuzzling his face into his shoulder. 

 

The dom was endeared. “Such a lovely boy. Let’s go to the dog park, hmm? Have a nice afternoon outside?”

 

“Okay,” Louis agreed, pleasantly surprised that plans for the park were still on. 

 

“Come help me make some sandwiches to bring,” Harry said, tugging Louis off the bed and toward the stairs. 

 

Nick was waiting downstairs for them. Before Louis could follow Harry into the kitchen, his oldest dom spun him around and pecked his forehead. 

 

“Not too sore, hm?” 

 

Of course he was sore, but Nick wouldn’t ever understand that because doms didn’t get spanked. But Louis didn’t pout about it this time. “Nothing a hot bath tonight won't fix.” 

 

“Oh?” Nick raised an eyebrow. “Can I join you for bath time?”

 

“Only if you give me a good massage during it,” Louis decided, leaving a delighted Nick behind as he went into the kitchen. 

 

* * *

 

The dog park was a wonderful place. A thin layer of snow covered the ground, and Louis crunched through it as he played with Pig. Nick joined him in playing fetch with Pig and some her new toys while Harry took pictures from where he sat at a nearby picnic table. 

 

When Pig was literally panting from exhaustion, they went to eat their sandwiches. 

 

Five minutes into their afternoon meal, they were approached by two girls. One was slim and small, with large hoop earrings and bright lipstick. The other was a head taller with bleached hair and sharp eyebrows. 

 

“Sorry to disturb you,” The shorter one said, but she didn’t sound sorry at all. “I listen to you guys all the time, and I follow you all on Instagram, Facebook, BBC Radio 1’s Youtube channel, Twitter...You should follow me by the way, I’ll write down my name, that would be so-”

 

“Darby,” The other girl cut her off. 

 

‘Darby’ looked back briefly at what must have been her dom. “I just wanted a picture with you guys, to show my friend Kelsey? She’s my best friend, and she’ll go ballistic because she loves your show too, especially when you’re there Louis. You should follow her too Twitter as well-”

 

Darby’s dom stepped forward and squeezed her shoulder, causing her to falter. Luckily Harry came to the rescue with his usual charm. “Of course we’d like to take a picture with you. Thanks for listening to our show.”

 

“Oh Thanks!” The female sub lit up. “Can I get one with all three of you, and then just one of me and Louis? I mean, we’re both subs and all, so it’s fitting…plus I just love listening to him. It’s too bad we aren’t soulmates...”

 

Louis felt delighted to be looked up to by someone. As a sub, he usually felt like he was the one looking up to other people. This proved that subs could be just as influential, if not more, than doms and regulars. 

 

“It sure is a bit strange,” Harry commented later as they began packing up their things. “You were only introduced on the show a few months ago, and already you’ve gained so much attention.”

 

Louis felt himself freeze. Doms usually didn’t like their subs at the attention of others. That was why so many famous subs had to stay anonymous, or have severe protection. It almost wasn’t worth it for the subs that actually showed their face to the public, such as movie stars, because they had even less freedom than average subs, despite having all the money in the world. 

 

If Harry and Nick felt that Louis was gaining too much attention, they might not let him on the radio show ‘for his own protection’. That would be devastating, because he actually really liked it! The radio was the only interesting thing in his life right now, if he didn’t have it, he would go mad.

 

Nick noticed his panicked expression. “You don’t have to panic Lou, it’s not something to worry about. Most of your admirers are subs anyway.”

 

“But you still aren’t to go out alone,” Harry stated. “I know radio is different than television and other entertainment industries since people mostly listen instead of look, but we do often get recognized due to the popularity of the show. We want you to be as safe as possible.”

 

Louis relaxed. “I won’t go out alone, I promise.”

 

“I mean it Lou,” Harry repeated. “No more bus trips, or solo walks in the city, or-”

 

Louis took his hand and squeezed it. “Haz, I promise.”

 

Harry studied him closely. “You better mean it this time love.”

 

"I do," Louis promised. That is, he would do his very best to stay out of trouble. There were no guarantees, but his doms didn't have to know that. He was going to try, and that's what mattered.   
  
  


* * *

 

Louis woke up the next morning feeling an unexplained need to take care of his doms. This happened sometimes with subs, feeling the need to please even outside the bedroom. That was why he slipped out of bed quietly, padding down the stairs in bare feet, only wearing one of Harry’s large t-shirts that reached his mid-thigh. 

 

His intention was to cook breakfast and surprise them in bed. Louis didn’t have much experience in the cooking department, but how hard could pancakes be? Those, along with some scrambled eggs, would be fine. He’d watched both Harry and his mum cook those things enough times. 

 

“Let’s see...some eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla…” Louis read off the ingredients from the recipe he’d saved on his phone, absentmindedly prodding Pig with his toe as the dog sat at the base of his feet, excitedly panting up at him. 

 

Mixing the ingredients was easy enough, even if he accidently put in too much salt. The hard part was actually cooking them on the stove. This was a fancy kitchen, and the stove had a lot of different complicated buttons. Eventually he’d found the knob for the burners. 

 

The thing is, Louis didn’t know that he was supposed to give the burner time to heat up properly before putting the mix in. The entire pancake spread out unevenly across the pan. Oh well, it would just be a unique pancake. 

 

But then things went even more wrong. Pig was whining at the door, so Louis had to let her outside to do some doggy business. Unfortunately, Pig had discovered a squirrel and proceeded to chase after it, going too far away from the house. Obviously Louis had to go and retrieve her, because lord knows what was lurking in the woods beyond the yard. 

 

He came back to a horrible smell and went into a panic. 

 

“Dammit!” Louis turned off the stove and examined the charred, lumpy shaped pancake, a sad excuse for a meal. “See what you’ve done, Pig?”

 

Louis shoved open the window to let some fresh air in and defuse the terrible smell. It was a miracle that the smoke detector hadn’t gone off. 

 

The sub dumped the pancake into Pig’s food bowl. “You caused this to happen, so you can eat it!”

 

Pig sniffed the pancake once before whining and skittering out of the room. Louis instantly felt guilty for being so cross with her. 

 

“Wait Piggy, come back! I’m sor- oof!”

 

Louis crashed into something warm and solid. 

 

“Louis,” Harry looked half asleep, in just his pajama bottoms. “Was wondering where you went...it’s a weekend and not even eight. You usually sleep till at least te- what’s that smell?”

 

“It’s nothing!” Louis shoved at his larger frame as the dom tried to enter the kitchen. “Just, go back to bed! Everything’s fine.” 

 

Obviously, and annoyingly, Harry didn’t budge. 

 

“Were you…” He sniffed the air. “Lou babe, were you cooking?”

 

Louis flushed red. Harry knew he didn’t enjoy cooking, so it must have been odd. The sub looked up at Harry daringly, expecting him to start laughing. Much to his surprise, the dom only seemed endeared, which caused Louis to look down at his feet and the hardwood floor.

 

“Did you want to make us breakfast?” Harry guessed, tilting Louis’ chin up so his gaze no longer hit the floor. 

 

“Yes,” Louis finally confessed. “But it didn’t really turn out how I wanted. It’s half Pig’s fault though, I swear!”

 

Harry took his hand and they walked into the kitchen. He inspected the room and finally discovered the monstrosity that sat in Pig’s food bowl. This time Harry couldn’t help but chuckle. 

 

“I don’t think Nick would appreciate you trying to poison his baby.” 

 

Louis crossed his arms. “I thought  _ I  _ was Nick’s baby? Besides, I wasn’t trying to poison her! They look worse than they taste.”

 

“You and Pig are both Nick’s babies,” Harry said, and then looked concerned. “How do you know what they taste like? Don’t tell me you actually tried them? Do we need to go to the hospital?”

 

“Very funny,” Louis scowled, picking up the bowl and dumping the pancake into the trash dejectedly. “Guess I won’t follow through with any more ridiculous ideas.”

 

“Hey,” Harry was at his side in an instant. “I was only teasing, lovely. It was very thoughtful of you to make us breakfast, even if it didn’t go how you wanted it to. But that’s fine, because now we can make it together.”

 

Louis softened a little as Harry kissed his mop of hair, which was still wild from not having been combed yet this morning. 

 

When Nick came downstairs half an hour later, he was greeted with the sight of his two soulmates making breakfast together. Louis, bless his beautiful boy, was sitting on the counter in only a t-shirt next. Harry was effortlessly flipping a pancake, and he set it on a nearby plate that had a growing stack of them. 

 

“Good timing, breakfast is just about ready,” Harry said. 

 

“Woke up to a cold and lonely bed,” Nick pouted. “Otherwise I would have slept till noon.”

 

“I’m not opposed to going back to bed after we eat,” Louis spoke up, realizing how tired he was from waking up so early. Nick was unable to stay away from their gorgeous sub, crossing the room to attack him with kisses to his nose and cheeks. 

 

“Lou, set the table please. Nick, can you get the drinks?”

 

Both did as they were asked, and there was a comfortable peace in the kitchen as breakfast was set up and then served. Louis sat comfortably on Harry’s lap, sharing a plate with him. He was thankful that the green eyed dom hadn’t mentioned his failed cooking attempt to Nick, saving him from embarrassment. 

 

They all ate until full and content. When the table had been cleared and the dishes were soaking in the sink, Nick wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist. 

 

“Back to bed?” 

 

Louis nodded, holding his arms out so he wouldn’t have to walk up the long staircase. “Yeah, back to bed.”

 

The sub spent rest of the morning dozing, rousing every so often when pairs of lips would press against the names on his arms, eliciting a cool tingle on the skin. Right now, at this moment, everything felt good. 

 

* * *

 

Two days later, Louis got a call from Niall asking him to hang out. “We’ll have to stay at the hospital,” his friend had explained. “Liam doesn’t want me going too far from him for awhile.”

Louis, who was eager to see his friend, readily agreed. He put Nick on the phone, who requested to speak with Liam, and an hour later he was roaming the halls of London’s central hospital with Niall. 

 

“So you’re better than before, yeah?” Louis asked, hands shoved into his pockets as they walked, feeling a little awkward. 

 

“Yeah,” Niall sighed. “Look Louis, I’m really sorry. Things at home were just building up, and I was getting stupid thoughts. I’m really sorry for getting you involved.”

 

“No, it’s okay.” Louis bumped their shoulders together. “So long as you’re all good? At home and stuff.”

 

“I am!” Niall reassured him. “This isn’t something you have to think about since you have two doms to yourself, but sometimes it’s frustrating sharing with another sub. We like to please and receive attention from our doms, or at least I do...and I got jealous. Stupidly so, but it just happened. I love Zayn, and I love Liam, so it’s all good.”

 

Louis frowned. He tried to imagine life with another sub in their family. It wasn’t unheard of to have more than three soulmates. He couldn’t picture it though. Harry and Nick belonged to him, that was just the way it was. Their bond already felt complete though, so he doubted they would ever have to worry about any new additions.

 

“Well,” Louis put his arms around Niall’s shoulders. “I’m glad. I was really worried about you Nialler. Thought I you were gonna take off from the country, which means that I would have had to follow you, and then Harry and Nick would have gone crazy, and then we’d be on the run, and we’d be hiding from the govern-”

 

“Relax Lou!” Niall laughed. “I’d never run away. Where would I go anyway, and what would the point be? I’d have to work my ass off to survive and spend all my days in hiding. Not to mention, Liam is already an expert with runaways.”

 

“Right,” Louis grimaced at the thought of Zayn’s story. “How is Zayn, anyway?”

 

“Dark, elusive, mysterious, the usual.” Niall replied. “He spends so much time in his studio.”

 

Louis thought of the website Zayn was selling his art on. “Yeah,” he laughed nervously. “At least he has a productive hobby though.”

 

“Yeah, he is talented, isn’t he?” Niall grinned. “He told me he’s painting Liam something special, but he won’t show me. Do you think it’s explicit?” 

 

Louis turned red. “Um, I sure hope not!”

Niall laughed. “Well I sure hope so! Hey, want to go get something to eat?”

 

“Hospital cafeteria food?” Louis asked, wrinkling his nose. 

 

“We can go to Nandos, it’s just across the street. I’ll text Li, he knows how much the food here sucks.”

 

Everything was so perfect right now, Louis thought to himself. Life was drama free, he was on his doms’ good side, their radio show was getting more listeners than ever, and his friends were okay. 

  
He hoped that things would stay good for awhile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, so sorry for the wait. I hope this chapter wasn't too dreadful, it took some time to get back into the mood for it!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can all thank Angel_Dust for this update. I was stuck, and she really gave me support and inspiration to get back on track!

“I’ll only be gone for two weeks, if that.” Harry said as he finished zipping up his suitcase. “It’ll be incredibly boring, mostly meetings and a few interviews.”

 

“But why can’t we all go?” Louis asked, not able to help feeling a little downtrodden. Not only would he miss Harry terribly, but being able to see LA for himself would have been interesting as well. Eighteen years old and he’d never even left the country before, save for a holiday in France a few years ago with his family. 

 

“Because I still have to run our actual show,” Nick stepped in, resting a hand on Louis’ shoulder. “You would be bored going with Harry, trust me. We’ve decided that it’d be best for you to stay here and fill in Harry’s spot.”

 

Louis knew they were just trying to make him feel important, but he stayed quiet, fumbling with a loose thread on his shirt. 

 

“Lou,” Harry stepped forward, looking rather pained. “I’m going to miss you and Nick more than anything. But I’ve been holding off on this trip for awhile now, mostly to make sure our bond was strong enough to endure the separation.”

 

“And that time has come,” Nick said. “You’ve been doing so well Louis, we all have.”

 

“Alright,” Louis finally agreed, straightening his shoulders and taking a small step back. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how dependent he was sounding, whining about being separated from one of his doms. 

 

Maybe it was just because it was Harry. It was impossible not to miss his curly haired dom. Harry cuddled him the most, and always put his feelings first. There was also the fact that it was easier to get permission from Harry. It wasn’t that the dom was careless or anything, but Nick was definitely on the more watchful and cautious side compared to the other. 

 

Of course he still loved them both equally, but Louis felt as if he understood Harry a little more. At least, it was easier not to butt heads. 

 

“I want you to facetime me everyday,” Harry said, tone serious as he stuffed items into a separate carry along bag for the plane. “No wait, I want you to facetime me  _ twice _ everyday. When you wake up, and when you go to bed.”

 

“Really Haz?” Louis resisted rolling his eyes. 

 

“Yes, really.” Harry replied. “I want to hear your voice and see you face at the same time. I’m just going to miss you both so much.”

 

“We’ll both facetime you, won’t we darling?” Nick said, walking over to Harry and smacking a kiss to the delighted dom’s cheek. 

 

The soulmate trio drove together to the airport so that Nick and Louis could see Harry off. 

 

“Just two weeks,” Harry whispered into Louis’ ear as they hugged. “I’m going to buy you so many souvenirs. Then this summer we’ll all take a vacation to America together, alright? We can go to Hawaii or Florida, somewhere warm.”

 

“Miss you already Haz,” Louis said, fighting back the tightness in his throat. He wasn’t going to get teary eyed, he wasn’t!

 

Once Harry stepped through the gate of his flight, Nick smiled at Louis and took his hand. 

 

“How about we get some lunch?”

 

* * *

 

To be honest, Louis was expecting things to be quite downtrodden without his beloved curly haired dom around. Instead, things were alright. Louis spoke a lot more during the radio show, making up for the loss of Harry. It was funny too, because Harry would listen in when he could (even with their different timezones) and would text them both during the show. 

 

Louis and Nick also facetime Harry twice a day. The first call had been the longest, with Harry showing them every inch of the fancy hotel he was staying in, and reading off the names of the fancy soaps in the bathroom. After that ,the time period of the calls shortened a bit. There was still a lot of texting though. 

 

Nick was pretty easy going too, much to Louis’ surprise. He was expecting things to be a little weird with the trio moving down to two temporarily. Instead they stayed busy. Nick took Louis out to eat, shopping, and to the dog park with Pig when they weren’t at BBC. Even better, Nick let Louis plan all of the upcoming radio show material with him, just like Harry did. 

 

Louis really should have known that nothing good lasts forever. 

 

A week and a half into Harry being gone, Louis received a phone call from Zayn in the evening. He had been on the back porch throwing tennis balls to Pig, who would only run after the ball, sniff it, and refuse to bring it back. 

 

“He found it Lou,” Zayn said, no trace of emotion in his voice. 

 

“Found what?” Louis replied instantly, though he had a terrible sinking feeling in his gut. There was only one possible thing that Zayn’s dom could have found. 

 

“My art site,” Zayn answered. “He’s good, really good...I clear my history every time I finish going online, and I’m so careful whenever I make business transactions. I have no idea how he did it.”

 

Louis didn’t know what to say. “Does...So what’s he going to do now?”

 

“He’ll get rid of it,” Zayn finally had some bitterness in his tone. “What else would he do? For now he’s sent me to our room.”

 

Louis felt tears in his eyes, feeling the pain that his friend was trying to resist. That website was the only thing that was Zayn’s alone. It was so special to him. 

 

“I’m so sorry,” He finally settled for saying, even though he knew his apologies would do nothing. 

 

“Me too,” Zayn said. “I guess I just feel...nothing. And the thing is Louis, I’ve tried so hard to make sense of things….of this world. Why some are destined to control, and others are fated to submit. I’ve questioned it so much, and I’ve never found an answer.”

 

Louis felt helpless. “It’s just the way things are. I don’t think we’ll ever find answers to those kinds of questions. We have each other at least.”

 

“Subs don’t have anything really,” Zayn replied. “I’m going to go now. Liam will probably be here soon.”

 

Before Louis could say anything, the call ended. He stood there in silence for a few minutes, unsure of what to do. Part of him wanted to go to Nick and seek physical comfort (he gave such good cuddles), and another part of him wanted to phone Harry and seek verbal comfort. His mood was already strange from the presence of only one dom, so he needed something. 

 

But at the same time, he felt angry. It was stupid, Louis knew, because his doms hadn’t really done anything...they were more relaxed than Liam, and they always put his feelings first before any sort of rule or punishment. 

 

But they were still doms, and Louis felt angry at all doms. He felt angry at the entire world. A part of him tried picturing himself as a dom. If he had someone whom he was obliged to look after, he would go about things so much differently than the average dom. 

 

But that was just it. Louis’ brain wasn’t wired to think like a dom’s brain. He was submissive to the very core. It gave him comfort to receive commands (agreeable ones). He liked to be taken care of and pampered. It was his nature, but at the same time if Louis could really choose his place in the world, he wouldn’t be a dom or a sub. He would just want to be average, like his mother. 

 

The way the world ticked...it just didn’t make sense. 

 

“Louis,” Nick’s voice startled Louis out of his dark thoughts. “You ought to come inside now, the wind is picking up. It’ll start raining soon.”

 

“Fine,” Louis said, inwardly cringing at the snippity tone of his voice. 

 

After whistling for Pig to come inside as well, Nick raised an eyebrow, but he only silently held the door for the sub and their dog as they came back inside. 

 

“Who were you chatting with?” Nick asked curiously as he watched Louis flop onto the sofa and stare forlornly  at the wall. 

 

Louis started to play with a loose string on the sleeve of his shirt. “Zayn.”

 

Nick sat next to him. “And how is Zayn doing these days?”

 

“Alright,” Louis shrugged. “At least he was fine until Liam ruined everything.”

 

Nick calmly sat with an arm around Louis’ shoulder while the sub explained the situation about Zayn’s art website. When he was done, Nick’s response took him by surprise. 

 

“Well he had it coming then, didn’t he? Zayn knew better to lie to his dom.”

 

“What?” Louis blinked, stiffening. “You’re agreeing with  _ Liam _ ?”

 

“Be realistic Louis,” Nick said. “Zayn lied for months. He was handling large amounts of money and connecting with strangers online. Even if it was for his art, he lied to his dom about something very serious.”

 

“He donated all of his earned money to  _ charity _ ,” Louis reminded him. “And Zayn’s probably one of the best modern day artists around. He had a full scholarship to an art school before his dom had to go and ruin it. Liam took everything from him, but when Zayn finally had something good once again, Liam just up and took that too!”

 

Louis didn’t realize his voice had increased in volume. Nick didn’t look impressed at all, and he even seemed a bit shocked at the outburst. 

 

“I think you need to calm down,” Nick finally stated, but it only riled the sub up further. 

 

“Oh, so now you’re going to send me to the corner for having an opinion? What a typical thing for a dom to do!”

 

“I’m going to send you to your  _ room  _ so that you can think things over and calm down. While you do that, I’m going to make supper. Then we can eat peacefully and stop this night from going down a much different path.”

 

Deliberately letting out a huff, Louis resisted the urge to stomp his way upstairs. He sat on his bed, fuming for a good half hour until Nick called him back down again. 

 

Louis just sat down, not giving the food on the table any attention or bothering to get any. Nick sighed and started filling Louis’ plate for him. 

 

“This really is ridiculous, you know?” Nick said after about five minutes of deadly cold silence passed. “You’re acting like a brat, Louis. Honestly, being so upset at something like this.”

 

“Zayn’s my friend, of course I’m upset!” Louis slammed his fork down. “You just don’t get it. No dom will ever get it!”

 

“That’s it,” Nick snapped. “This attitude is going to stop  _ now _ . Be quiet and eat your supper. We can finish this discussion later, in a calm and civilized manner.” 

 

“I’m not hungry,” Louis said, raising his chin in the air rather petulantly. 

 

“ _ Eat _ .”

 

“ _ No _ .”

 

Nick looked angry, more angry than Louis had seen him in awhile. “Louis William, do you really want to end up with a sore bottom tonight?”

 

“I haven’t done anything wrong!” Louis said. “I’m just defending Zayn and all the other subs out there, including me!”

 

“Have Harry or I ever mistreated you?” Nick asked slowly. “Think about that one really hard Louis. We’re pretty radical compared to most doms. You should be grateful for how good you have it.”

 

Louis knew that. Deep down inside he really knew that he was blessed with the most wonderful doms a sub could ask for. He also knew that he loved and needed them in his life, to love him back and take care of him. 

 

But he was mad. 

 

“I would give anything to not be a sub...to not be  _ your _ sub! If Harry was here, he would agree with me that Liam took it too far!”

 

“Harry would agree one hundred percent with me,” Nick argued. “You would understand if you were a dom.”

 

“Well I’m not a dom, so I don’t understand!”

 

“You’re not responsible for Zayn, and you have no business getting into he and his soulmates’ personal lives. Maybe we should stop letting you see that sub all together, he clearly brings out the worst in you!”

 

Nick was full on shouting now. Louis wanted to burst into tears and make it up to his dom; kneel before him and clutch onto his knees in a plead. Even more so, he wished that Harry were here right now. His beautiful curly haired dom was the mediator of their trio, that was for certain. He balanced everything out. 

 

“Fuck that!” He spat out. “You can’t just dictate my life all the time!”

 

“Watch me!”

 

The next thing Louis knew, he was over Nick’s knee. There was no preparation at all, and his pants were pulled all the way down. It hurt, but the spanking definitely wasn’t the reason Louis cried. He cried because everything was unfair. He wanted Nick to cuddle him, he wanted Harry to be here, and he wanted Zayn to be happy. But he’d pissed Nick off, Harry was over five thousand miles away, and Zayn was suffering. 

 

Everything was wrong. 

 

When Nick finally stopped and let go of his waist, Louis sprang up, stumbling pantless and bare up the stairs to his person room. 

 

There was no lock on the door, so he settled for wedging the desk chair under the door knob. Once he was safe and alone, he settled for perching on the edge of the bed, wiping away his tears in anger. 

 

He didn’t have a plan of action until he eyed his phone innocently sitting on the desk. 

 

Louis was quick to text Zayn:  **I’m not sure if he took your phone, but call me asap.**

 

It took ten minutes, but finally Louis’ phone began to buzz. 

 

“Lou?” Zayn questioned, voice quiet. 

 

“Are you alone in the room right now?” Louis asked, keeping his own voice at a low volume as well. 

 

“For a few minutes,” Zayn said. “What’s up?”

 

“We’re getting out of here. We’re gonna go someplace far away from this shitfest and never come back.”

 

“Woah, back up for a second. What happened Louis?”

 

Louis sighed. “I’m done Zayn, just like you are. I’m leaving with or without you. But you have experience with this sort of stuff, so I’m hoping it’ll be with.”

 

There was a long pause. 

 

“Alright,” Zayn finally gave in. “It’s not like I have anything to lose anymore. When are we leaving?”

 

“Meet you outside your place at midnight?”

 

“Deal.”

 

* * *

 

While Louis was making important plans upstairs, Nick was on the phone with Harry, explaining what had just occurred. 

 

“I spanked him out of anger Haz. I  _ never _ spank out of anger...that’s not how it works. I’m supposed to have sat him down and explained why he needed to be punished, which was for swearing and showing disrespect!”

 

“Calm down Love,” Harry interrupted. “Where is he now? Did you at least comfort him after the punishment?”

 

“I didn’t get a chance to,” Nick said. “He slipped away and bolted upstairs to his room before I had the chance to sit him upright for a cuddle.”

 

“How long has it been?”

 

“Twenty minutes,” Nick replied. “Should I go talk to him?”

 

“I’ll try to call him,” Harry decided. “It might be a good idea to leave him be for a bit. What happened to Zayn obviously triggered something serious inside him. He needs time for his anger to dissipate.”

 

They hung up while Harry tried Louis. When he didn’t answer his phone, Harry called Nick back to tell him so. 

 

“It’s getting late,” Nick said. “How about I let him sleep on his own for tonight? I’ll go wake him in the morning to talk, and then take him out for a nice breakfast. He must be hungry...we didn’t exactly eat during dinner.”

 

“That sounds like a good idea,” Harry agreed. “I’m booking the next available flight to London right now-”

 

“There’s no need for that, Haz!” Nick stopped him. “You have three more days until your flight home, and two important meetings during that time period.”

 

“I can’t just stay here while Louis is this upset,” Harry protested. “He needs both his doms right now.”

 

“I messed up, so it’s my responsibility to fix this.” Nick said. “If Louis and I don’t resolve things tomorrow, then by all means you can come home. But let me try and fix this first, okay?”

 

“Alright,” Harry said. “I love you Nick. Everything is going to be just fine. Tell Louis to call me tomorrow as well, okay?”

 

“I will,” Nick promised, already feeling a bit better. 

 

Harry was right, everything would be just fine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully some of you can find it in your heart to forgive my absence!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! The next chapter will be posted on Sunday (it's already more than halfway written, I was going to include it in this chapter but I decided to split it instead. 
> 
> Enjoy!

It wasn’t that Louis was conceited or anything, but he personally thought of himself to be quite badass for climbing out his window and down from a two story house without getting killed. The sub couldn’t risk trying to leave from the front door, or even going down the stairs. His bum wouldn’t be able to handle another spanking tonight, and the chances of Nick hearing him were pretty high. 

 

He didn’t pack much, just a backpack with some underwear and an extra change of clothes. Much to his luck, Louis had some cash on hand from when he and Nick had been shopping a few days ago. His doms had never been too restricting with money, or they at least let him have some on hand now without taking it away. 

 

He decided to leave his laptop behind, as it would only get in the way. Louis figured he didn’t need anything else aside from his phone, which he slipped into the pocket of his black trackies. He also wore a warm green hoodie and put on his newest pair of sneakers, which were quite sturdy. 

 

Now, five minutes to midnight, Louis was waiting by the bushes of the Payne household.

 

There was a soft thud, prompting Louis to almost scream out loud, but he relaxed when he heard a familiar voice quietly curse. 

 

“Fuck, that was a long jump!” Zayn said, shaking out one of his ankles. “I lost my footing halfway down…”

 

Louis grinned. “Hi Zayn!”

 

“Hey,” Zayn smiled back, dusting off his pants. “So you really wanna do this, huh?”

 

“Yes,” Louis nodded. “I’ve done a lot of thinking, and-”

 

“Come on, we can talk once we’re safe. Let’s hurry and get to the nearest bus station.”

 

* * *

 

The 24 hour bus station was quite mild at this time of night. There were a few people lounging on benches with bags, and a few others awaiting the arrival of the next bus to pick up their friends and family members. Louis and Zayn chose a small corner to stand in as they made plans in hushed whispers.

 

“Get rid of the phone,” Zayn ordered as soon as Louis pulled it out to check bus routes. 

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“They’ll use it to track us,” Zayn explained. “Doms always put tracking chips in their sub’s phones. Why do you think they got you a new one so quickly when you first arrived?”

 

“Shit,” Louis’ eyes grew wide as he threw the fragile device on the ground, stomping on it several times before throwing it into a nearby trashcan. “I thought they were just being nice!”

 

“Maybe that was part of it, but the chip was the bigger reason.”

 

The bus station was practically empty at one in the morning, but the next bus was scheduled in thirty minutes. Seeing as subs were allowed free public transportation and did not have to pay for the bus, it seemed only reasonable to get on one. 

 

“Don’t show the bus driver your sub mark,” Zayn spoke once again, catching Louis off guard. 

 

“But we have to show them our mark in order to get a free pass...”

 

“Come on Lou, be realistic. How suspicious will it look for two subs with backpacks to be riding a bus without their doms in the middle of the night? The driver will probably bring us right to the police station.”

 

Louis was sure thankful that Zayn had come with him, otherwise he would have been a goner. 

 

“While we’re waiting, we need to come up with a plan,” Louis decided. “Where should we go? Where did you go when you ran away?”

 

“I failed twice, remember?” Zayn reminded him. “I tried to go to America first...don’t do that. Not only is airport security extremely tight, but the US has even stricter regulations...they make you show your mark and proof of dom permission  _ everywhere _ you go.”

 

Louis grimaced. “Okay, so no America. What about France?”

 

“Do you speak French Lou?”

 

“No…”

 

“We’ll stay in the UK for a while, albeit out of the city, to come up with something that will work,” Zayn said. “We’ll have to lie low, because once it gets into the system that we’re runaway subs, the authorities will be on the lookout all over.” 

 

“We’ll run out of money eventually,” Louis said a little doubtfully. “How will we even be able to stay somewhere?”

 

“With this,” Zayn pulled something out of his pocket. 

 

Louis gasped upon seeing it. “Zayn, no! We’ll be in  _ huge _ trouble! We can’t use one of Liam’s credit cards! Besides, I didn’t know about the phone thing, but I know for sure that he’ll be able to track us with  _ that _ !”

 

“Relax Lou,” Zayn said. “I’m only using it once, at the atm over there. Then the bus will be here, and we’ll board it and get far away before Liam even wakes up and knows I’m gone...or his card, for that matter.”

 

Louis wrung his hands together, gnawing at his lip in worry while Zayn withdrew a large sum of money from the sketchy little machine nearby. If they were caught, the punishment would be severe. Stealing was a serious thing, even from your own dom...that almost made it worse. 

 

Now they _had_ to run.

  
  


* * *

 

Nick stopped in front of Louis’ door, balancing a tray filled with delicious breakfast foods in his arms. Hopefully his sub would be willing to talk, but the food made for a slight bribe in case there was trouble. 

 

“Lou?” He gave the door a few soft knocks. “I have breakfast? Do you mind if I come in?”

 

There was no answer. Perhaps Louis was still asleep, either that or ignoring him still. Well, his sub hadn’t had dinner last night, so he wouldn’t be skipping breakfast too. Nick opened the door and entered. 

 

“Lou, I-” He stopped short upon seeing an empty bed. “Louis?”

 

Nick set the tray down, looking around to be sure that Louis wasn’t in his bedroom. He hadn’t seen Louis downstairs this morning, unless he had snuck by when Nick was in the kitchen cooking. 

 

“Louis!” He called out louder, going back to check the master bedroom and the upstairs bathroom. Both of them were empty, and his heart was beating with worry. “Louis, come out here right now!”

 

Pig gave a soft whine from the bottom of the stairs, and Nick looked down at her frantically. “Piggy, where’s our Lou?”

 

The dog stared up at him, eyes sad and unblinking as she whined at the front door again. Nick was about to go search the yard before his phone rang. To his surprise, Liam’s name appeared on the screen, and he felt immediate relief. Louis must have gone to see Zayn this morning. It was without his permission, which would of course mean a punishment was in order, but Nick would go soft to make up for last night. 

 

“Hello Liam, I-”

 

“Nick, Zayn’s gone, I can’t find him anywhere! Did he go over to your place?”

 

Nick could physically feel his face grow cold. 

 

“I can’t find Louis either, I’ve looked everywhere. We got into a little disagreement last night.”

 

“So did Zayn and I. Look, you need to get over here now. We need to find those two before they get themselves into even more trouble than they’re already in!”

 

“I’m on my way,” Nick said.

  
  
  


* * *

 

Niall was an absolute mess, sobbing hysterically so badly that he was having trouble breathing. When they’d finally calmed him down enough to speak coherent sentences, they tried to question him as gently as possible. 

 

“Niall, did Zayn say anything to you yesterday to indicate his running away?” Liam asked, stroking the blonde sub’s cheek and catching fresh tears on his thumb. "After the fight about the website?"

 

“Or anything about Louis?” Nick added quickly. 

 

“N-No,” Niall sniffled. “Nothing at all, I s-swear!”

 

“He left his phone here,” Liam said, taking the device out of his pocket. “His last call was from Louis at eight-thirteen last night. The call only lasted for three minutes.”

 

Nick groaned. “I’ve already tried tracking Louis’ phone, but there’s no signal. He’s definitely ditched it. He didn’t even know about the tracking chip...we didn’t feel the need to explain it, seeing as it was only for emergencies.”

 

“That’s probably Zayn’s fault,” Liam admitted in frustration. “He’s too perceptive for his own good. Dammit!”

 

Liam disappeared into the living room, and Niall continued to cry into the side of the sofa where he was curled up. Nick stepped into the hallway, knowing that Harry needed to get here immediately. He knew how much Harry was going to panic, but the sooner he could get back here to help, the better. 

 

“Nick?” Harry answered on the first ring. “How’s Louis? Did you guys make up yet?”

 

“Love, I’m afraid there’s a problem. You’re going to have to take the soonest flight home.”

 

There was a moment of silence, and Nick could feel Harry’s panic through the phone. “Nick, where’s Louis? What’s wrong?”

 

Nick took a deep breath. “He and Zayn have run away.”

 

* * *

Six hours earlier:

 

Riding a bus alone, at night, was an extremely nerve wracking thing to do without a dom’s presence. There were only a select few riding the bus so late, and the driver had looked at them a little oddly. After all, they were both wearing backpacks and hoodies, probably looking a bit suspicious. Luckily Zayn had swung his arm over Louis’ shoulders and led him to their seats, a rather dom-type of action, so nobody spoke to them. 

 

Nick and Harry were going to be so devastated. Especially Harry, Louis thought to himself in worry, who’d had no part in what happened last night. 

 

But Harry probably would have reacted the same way as Nick, had he been home at the time. When it came down to it, they were doms. Doms were always going to act superior and take control, it was inevitable. 

 

Louis wanted to answer for himself. He wanted to make his own choices about his life and future. 

 

Zayn spoke softly, in no danger of being heard due to the low amount of occupants on the bus. “Alright, let’s talk about this. What made you decide to run away?”

 

“You did,” Louis said, looking down at his hands. “Well, sort of. Hazza went to America for their work, so it was just me and Nick. It felt weird with just the two of us, and then I found out what happened with your art. Nick was taking Liam’s side, and it just made me so  _ angry _ ...and then he spanked me.”

 

“You’re not the only one who got spanked,” Zayn muttered, wincing in remembrance. “Liam said- He was going to do something drastic, I could tell. That’s why I agreed to easily to running away for a third time.”

 

“Drastic?” Louis asked. “What do you mean?”

 

“He’s considered alternative options to making sure I behave,” Zayn explained. “Like...a sub training program, or a collar tracking device, something big to make sure I can’t ever get away again.”

 

“No, no way!” Louis shook his head frantically. “Liam wouldn’t do something that bad!”

 

“I’ve seen things to make me think otherwise,” Zayn replied with a shudder. “There were these pamphlets on his office desk, and he’s been talking to sub behavior specialists. Liam...he’s more old school than you’d think. He can be so nice, so sweet and soft. But then the next minute, he’s full dom.”

 

Louis couldn’t find the words to say anything, but he gripped Zayn’s hand tightly. 

 

“If only it was just Niall. I know he feels jealous sometimes about the attention Liam gives me, but that boy makes such a perfect sub. He isn’t like you and me. Niall lives to please others...he doesn’t mind not working, or having someone else make life’s choices for him.”

 

“Nick and Harry wouldn’t do anything like that to me, I’m sure of it.”

 

“Lou, you do realize that it’s too late to turn back, right? You’re the one who wanted this.”

 

“I still do!” Louis objected. “I’m just worried. You’ve failed twice now, and this is my first time running away. I just have a bad feeling…”

 

They had stayed on the bus for almost four hours until Zayn finally deemed it safe to get off. During the entire ride, Louis had stared out the window nervously. It had began to rain, the droplets pelting down harshly against the glass. 

 

He began to wonder what on earth he had been thinking, rushing into this so quickly without a stronger plan. 

 

* * *

 

“Harry should be back here by two, he’s getting on the fastest flight available.”

 

“Good,” Liam said. “Maybe we’ll be able to find them before that. I’ve just discovered something.”

 

“What is it?”

 

Liam held up his wallet. “Zayn took one of my credit cards. I called the bank while you were talking to Harry, and he used it at the atm in a bus station, the one that’s three blocks from here.”

 

“Fuck!” Nick cursed, biting his lip in worry. Taking a bus in the middle of the night was _dangerous_. Who knew what sort of lunatics rode the bus at that hour! “We have to get down there and find out where they went!”

 

“Let’s go,” Liam agreed. “Niall, you’re not to leave this house, do you understand? You’re going to text me every ten minutes, yes?”

 

“O-Okay,” Niall nodded, though he looked devastated at being left home. 

 

Liam and Nick called the local police as they took off for the bus station. A few policemen were going to meet them down there and get pictures and info on the missing subs, and then they would officially be in the system as runaways. 

 

One of Nick’s primal concerns was the fact that Louis was well known to the public. While that might be good in finding him, it also made things dangerous for Louis to be all by himself. Some people didn’t agree with Louis’ radio discussion topics, and other people almost admired him too much. 

 

It took a bit of threatening and some quick cash, but within minutes the two doms had the security guard going through the footage of the night before. 

 

“These your subs?” The guard finally asked, turning the monitor and pointing to two figures on the screen. 

 

Nick immediately recognized Louis’ hoodie and bag, even if the footage was slightly grainy. 

 

“That’s them,” He said. “Where was that bus going?”

 

The guard looked up the bus route number and gave them the locations of all the stops. It was heading north, and had six stops in total between last night at two and today at nine in the morning. 

 

The police had arrived soon after that. While Liam began chatting to them, Nick texted Harry to tell him what they had found out so far. He needed the other dom here. Harry had a way of making things better, even in the worst of all situations. He kept their little soulmate trio grounded.

 

“I’m going to fix this,” Nick muttered to himself under his breath. “It’s going to be alright.”

 

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure this is a safe place to hide?” Louis asked, staring wide eyes at the run down, seedy motel called the Cobbly Inn. 

 

“Nope,” Zayn answered honestly. “But this place is out of the way, far away from any kind of large town or city. We can lay low for a few days and then head further away.”

 

They walked into the small lobby, where an older man sat behind a shabby desk, eating pie and watching sports on a small portable television. Zayn nudged Louis and indicated for him to keep quiet. 

 

“Two rooms please,” The black haired sub said, trying to make his voice sound loud and powerful. 

 

The man looked up and eyed them curiously, his eyes squinty and moving up and down their bodies. 

 

“Show me your marks,” He finally said gruffly. 

 

“Excuse me?” Zayn asked, voice almost faltering. 

 

“I charge by status,” The man said. “Now show me your marks, or get the hell out of here.”

 

Zayn and Louis exchanged a glance. 

 

“We’re both subs,” Zayn finally admitted, though his shoulders stayed squared. 

 

“Hah!” The man laughed, pelting out crumbs onto the counter. “That’s no surprise. I’ve seen your type before. I won’t call nobody, but you’re going to be paying me extra to keep my mouth shut.”

 

“That’s unfair!” Louis protested, unable to keep silent as he seethed with anger. 

 

“Really now?” The man raised his brow. “It’s illegal to harbor runaways. You pay me £300 or I call the cops.”

 

“That’s insane!” Zayn protested. Afterall, that would use up almost all of what he had withdrew. He still had the credit card, but Liam would be able to track it...and it might be shut off by now, who knew? The odds were though that Liam wouldn’t deactivate it, so he use it to track them incase they were stupid enough to use it more than once. 

 

There was no way they could go anywhere else. This man might be a bastard, but any actually respected establishment would turn them in as soon as they saw their status marks. 

 

As Zayn begrudgingly handed over the money, Louis began to regret his rash decision to run even more.

 

There was also the fact that his soulmate names were starting to faintly tingle, much like they had when the bond had first been initiated. 


	10. Chapter 10

“Well this is…..”

 

“Creepy?” Louis provided an answer for him, scrutinizing the dingy room. It only contained one bed, the sheets appearing scratchy and thin. The blinds covering the window were bent and out of shape. 

 

There was a small bathroom connected, the sink faucet rusted. Neither sub was brave enough to look at the shower yet. 

 

“We’re not staying here forever, just for a few days.” Zayn reassured him. 

 

“And then what?” Louis asked, trying not to scoff. “We’re all out of money thanks to the jerk working the front desk!”

 

“We’ll think of something!” Zayn said moodily. “Stop acting like it’s my fault.”

 

“I’m not!” Louis interjected. “Just admit it Zayn, we’re screwed. I just...I think we made a mistake in doing this. I wasn’t thinking clearly, I was just so mad.”

 

“Jesus Christ!” Zayn kicked a flimsy desk against the wall. “You can’t have second thoughts now Lou, it’s too late! We ran away and stole money, even if you turn back, you aren’t going to be let off the hook.”

 

“I know,” Louis said quietly. There was silence, each sub in their own thoughts. Louis was having some major regrets, now that he was in an unfamiliar place with no set plan of action. 

 

Realistically, how were the going to make this work? In order to have money, a sub would either need a dom to support them or a job. In order to have a job, a sub needed documented permission from a dom, and there was the fact that most places didn’t hire subs. 

 

Would they have to resort to being thieves for the rest of their lives? There was just no way. They would be caught in an instant if they committed a crime. 

 

Zayn finally put a had on his shoulder. “Look Louis, whether you like it or not, this is the choice we made. We can’t fight each other, otherwise we’ll have nobody.”

 

“Yeah,” Louis breathed out of his nose. “I just...do you think Niall is okay?”

 

Zayn visibly stiffened. “He has Liam to himself, just like he’s secretly wanted. He’ll be fine.”

 

“You don’t mean that,” Louis said sharply. 

 

“No, I don’t,” Zayn admitted. “Of course he’ll be upset at first, but he’ll be able to move past it.”

 

“Hazza and Nicky are probably going mad with worry,” Louis traced Harry’s name on his arm. “Especially Harry. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him. I wonder what he’ll do?”

 

“They’ll survive,” Zayn told him. “That’s the good thing about being matched with a trio. Harry and Nick will have each other just like Liam and Niall. They were just fine before you came into their lives, weren’t they?”

 

“I guess so,” Louis replied. “Um, hey Zayn? Is it normal to feel, um, strange? On your soulmate names I mean?”

 

“What do you mean?” Zayn asked.

 

“Well, my names feel weird. They’re sort of throbbing and tingling at the same time? Sort of like when we first made contact.”

 

“Huh,” The other sub scratched his head. “I’m not sure. It could be the bond trying to resist the separation. I forgot that you haven’t been with them for that long. But I ran away from Liam when I was pretty new to him, and I don’t remember my name feeling weird.”

 

Louis traced a finger over Harry’s name. “Strange…”

 

* * *

 

There was a small convenience store across from the motel, which was where Louis decided to get their dinner the following night. Zayn was still quite sleepy, so he decided to get them both a meal with what little money they had left. 

 

Louis felt the man from the front desk’s eyes on him as he exited through the front lobby, but he didn’t pay him any mind. 

 

After browsing the few aisles that the store had, Louis finally settled on grabbing two pre made sandwiches and some water. The cashier was a young woman in her teens, chewing gum and playing on her cellphone. 

 

When he came up to the counter to pay for his food, she looked up and they made eye contact. 

 

Her bubblegum snapped as she stared at him, and Louis resisted the urge to look down.  

 

“Hey, I know you!” She finally said, still not ringing up his items. 

 

“Really?” Louis muttered, his stomach feeling rather queasy. “I think you’re mistaken…”

 

“No, you’re that radio sub,” She said insistently. “What are you doing so far away from London?”

 

“That’s my business, not yours.”

 

She held her hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, relax. I just turned sixteen last month and got my sub mark. My boss is letting me keep my job for now, since no other names have shown up. That means my dom is younger than me, how ridiculous is that?”

 

“Yeah, ridiculous,” Louis muttered, panicked at being recognized. He’d forgotten how well he was known, thanks to Nick and Harry’s popularity on the radio. That was definitely a bad thing, because he was easily recognizable to others. “Hey, can you please ring up my stuff?”

 

“Sure, sure,” She punched in the prices for the sandwiches. “The waters are on the house, since you’re semi-famous and stuff.”

 

“Right, thank you very much!” Louis hurriedly handed his money over. 

 

She gave him his change back. “No problem. Have fun doing... _ whatever _ it is you’re doing.”

 

“Thanks,” Louis said dryly. 

 

“You’re welcome,” She said, flipping her ponytail back. “You know, my uncle ran away from his dom, and he was put under house arrest for ten years.”

 

Louis paled. “I’m not running away. Now, thanks for the food, but I need to go now.”

 

“Right,” The girl watched in interest as Louis scrambled out the door. 

 

* * *

 

“Zayn, the convenience store girl knows who I am!” 

 

“What?” The black haired sub blinked sleepily. “Christ Louis, why did you go out? I was going to handle that!”

 

“I was hungry!” Louis stomped his foot. “And my arms are fucking stinging now!”

 

It was true. He hadn’t realized it before, but the tingling had progressed an an angry stringing. It was almost like an allergic reaction, except for the fact that the names looked relatively unharmed on his skin. 

 

“Then eat,” Zayn said, ripping the sandwiches open. “And tell me everything that happened.”

“She recognized me from the radio,” Louis said. “I mean, she knew I was running away! She said she wouldn’t tell, but how can we trust her? This whole thing has gone too far, we need to-”

 

“Calm down Louis!” Zayn ordered. “It’s fine. We’ll only stay here a few more days. Then I’ll get more money, and we’ll take another bus.”

 

“Zayn, it hurts!” Louis held out his arms. ‘Why does it hurt? I can’t do this!”

 

“Just eat and get some rest Louis! Stop stressing me out, okay?”

 

Louis closed his eyes tightly to stop any tears from flowing, but he did as he was told.

 

The next day was spent quietly. Louis’ arms continued to hurt, but it was a bearable pain. Zayn sketched in his notebook while Louis stared out the window, absentmindedly rubbing at his names. 

 

This time it was Zayn who went to find them food. 

 

He came back with a box of doughnuts thirty minutes later. “Jeez, that guy out front is such a creep. I can literally feel his eyes undressing me when I walk by. Don’t talk to him at all, okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Louis replied absentmindedly. 

 

Zayn sat on the end of the bed next to Louis, staring him in the eyes. 

 

“You’re not going to follow through with this, are you?”

 

Louis stared back. “Zayn...I need them. I don’t feel right without them.”

 

“I guess there’s no convincing you,” Zayn closed his eyes for a moment. “I need to leave then, before you contact them.”

 

“Zayn, no! You can’t go on by yourself!”

 

“I have to,” Zayn straightened his shoulders, getting up off the bed. “I’m not like you Louis, I crave freedom, no matter what the price.”

 

* * *

 

The bus station was deserted, due to the small size of this town. The last one was scheduled to come any minute, close to two-thirty in the morning. The town was eery and quiet, so unlike the lively city of London.

 

“Stay with me,” Louis pleaded. “Liam and Niall need you. Whatever happens, it’ll be better than constantly being on the run. A punishment never lasts forever.”

 

“You’re wrong about that one,” Zayn said, and pulling Louis into a hug. “I’m going to flee the country as soon as I can. I’m not telling you where, because I know your doms will try to get it out of you.”

 

“Just be safe!” Louis begged. “Please?”

 

“I will be,” Zayn said, pulling out of the hug when the next bus arrived. “I still think you’re making the wrong choice.”

 

“I need them,” Louis said softly. “I can’t live the rest of my life away from them. Our bond...it hurts me to be away. I can’t really explain it.”

 

Zayn just looked at him. “Goodbye Lou.”

 

* * *

 

After Zayn’s bus departed, Louis was trying his hardest not to turn into a weepy mess at he entered the hotel lobby again. It was quite late, but as usual, the manager was up and watching sports on his portable television. 

 

Louis felt the man’s eyes on him, and it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

 

“Where’s your friend?” The manager asked curiously, taking a slurp of soda. He hadn’t spoken to either Zayn or Louis since their first night checking in, so it caught the sub off guard. 

 

“Nowhere.”

 

“Really?” The man scratched his stomach and stood. He was quite large, Louis thought, and rather intimidating when he wasn’t sitting. “This is your third night here. You’re gonna have to pay if you want anymore nights. I run a business, and it ain’t free.”

 

Louis’ blood ran cold. He didn’t have anymore money, and Zayn had taken the credit card with him. 

 

When Louis didn’t reply, and manager cocked a brow. 

 

“Come over here,” He said gruffly. 

 

Louis stayed where he was, body on full alert. “W-Why?”

 

“Get  _ over _ here, Sub!”

 

Even if this man wasn’t a dom, his voice was full of unpleasant control. 

 

Louis timidly walked over. When he was close enough, the older man roughly grabbed him by the collar so that they were pressed against one another. 

 

“If you don’t pay up with cash by tomorrow, then you’ll be paying me in another way. You’ll be spending tomorrow night out here with me, on your knees and in between my legs. Otherwise I call the cops and report you in a heartbeat.”

 

Louis was frozen with terror at the man’s words. The man released his shirt, and Louis wanted to curl into a ball on the floor. He wanted Harry or Nick to pick him up and carry him far, far away from this place. 

 

The man patted his groin and grinned sinisterly. “Tomorrow night, pretty boy.”

 

Biting back a whimper, Louis stumbled out of the lobby, fumbling with the key to his room. He felt so dizzy, and his arms were on fire now. His body was filled with fear, adrenaline, and hurt, among many other things. 

 

* * *

 

There was an old corded phone on the nightstand next to the bed, and after a few deep breaths, Louis reached for it. 

 

He dialed a number that he knew by heart, closing his eyes and waiting for the ringing to start.

 

It only took one ring. 

 

“Hello?”

 

“H-Harry?” Louis whispered hoarsely, the phone trembling in his hands.

The sub could hear a sharp intake of breath over the line. “Louis? Oh my God, Louis! Baby, where are you? Are you alright?”

 

“I-I’m okay,” Louis’ eyes watered, and his throat felt a little closed up. It had been so long since he’d heard his dom’s voice. He wanted to melt into a puddle right there on the floor, even if it was only just a voice.

 

“Please Louis, please keep talking!” Harry said, and there was a lot of voices in the background questioning him. “Where are you?”

 

“I’m at...I’m at…” Louis frowned, trying to remember the town name. “I’m at a motel. The Cobbly inn, I think.”

 

“Okay, baby, that’s good. Keep talking to me Love. Are you with Zayn? Are either of your hurt?”

 

“Zayn is...no,” Louis swallowed. “No Zayn. It’s just me. My marks, they hurt. It’s making me feel funny.”

 

“It’s okay baby, we’re going to fix that,” Harry sounded like he was crying himself. “Are you in a room right now?”

 

“Yes, room 14, but m’scared. The manager wants to touch me. I don’t want him to come back.”

 

“What?!” Harry’s voice rose. “Okay baby, it’s going to be alright. Here’s what I want you to do. Go straight to the bathroom and lock yourself in. The police are coming, and me and Nicky are on our way too. You’re such a good boy Louis, such a good boy for calling me. It’s going to be okay. Bring the phone with you, yeah?”

 

Louis waited in the bathroom, the phone stretched as far as it could go with the cord. He was too frightened to talk much, but Harry spoke to him the entire time, and Nick too. They both sounded so worried, but Louis was exhausted and nauseous, so it was hard to concentrate.

 

It took ten minutes until there was a hard pounding on the door. Louis yelped and dropped the phone. 

 

“This is the police, open up immediately!”

 

Sighing in relief, Louis went to open the door. 

 

As soon as he did, two hands roughly shoved him on his knees. His arms were yanked behind his back, metal cuffs clamped and tightened around his dainty wrists.

 

One officer pushed up his sleeves and looked at his names. “This is him.”

 

The other officer nodded, pulling Louis up. “Come along, you.”

 

Louis openly cried as he was manhandled from the room. He didn’t want to go out to the lobby, nor did he want to go to jail. Perhaps he should have gone with Zayn instead, if this was the consequence. Harry had been the one to call the police, so this must be his punishment. 

 

The lobby was empty, Louis realized, and breathed a sigh of relief when he was led outside and to the cop car parked on the side of the road. The red and blue lights were blinding, but he was quickly shoved into the backseat.

 

The drive took less than five minutes.

 

The police station was small and cold. Louis’ wrists were still cuffed as he was put into one of the only two cells the station had. The cell next to him was occupied with a drunken American woman loudly singing the Star Spangled Banner. 

 

It was still better than the motel, Louis thought to himself, taking a seat on the hard plastic bench connected to the wall. He suddenly felt exhaustion wash over him, along with defeat. 

 

So he had contacted his doms, and he was happy about it. But would they be happy with him? How badly would Louis be punished? He shivered as he imagined getting collared, or chained inside the bedroom. Surely they wouldn’t do that, right? He knew his doms, and they would never hurt him in such a way. 

 

His bum though….they  _ would _ hurt him that way. 

 

Still, it was better than any alternative. 

 

Louis drifted off to sleep through the little amount left of night that there was. 

 

He was awoken a few hours later to a very familiar voice.

 

“Why the fuck is he cuffed?” Nick spat viciously at the nearest officer outside of the jail cell. “Take those off him right now!” 

 

The cell door was open, and Louis stared blearily at the officer who came in, followed by his two doms. When he saw his doms, Louis felt very awake as he sat up, staring at them with wide and frightened eyes.

 

“Hi baby,” Harry spoke slowly, his voice soft and reassuring. Oh how Louis had missed that voice. The phone just hadn’t been the same.

 

He sat still and patiently as the officer took off the metal cuffs. Once he was freed, he stepped hesitantly toward his doms. His body wanted to fling himself into both of their arms, but he also feared what was going to happen now. 

 

“Louis? Kitten?” Nick asked, sounding more hesitant and nervous than Louis had ever heard him. 

 

“I- I’m  _ sorry _ ,” Louis choked out. He had hurt his doms. Harry and Nick were scared and upset because of him. He was such a bad boy for running away, stealing, and hurting those who loved him. “ _ I’m sorry _ ,  _ I’m sorry _ ,  _ I’m sorry _ !”

 

His weak knees made him collapse on the ground, but within an instant he was lifted off the hard ground and into Nick’s warm lap, with Harry’s strong arms around him. The touch was like a burst of energy. His arms prickled cooly, going down to a pleasant tingle rather than the harsh stinging from before. 

 

It was all too much, and Louis could only cry harder as he clung tightly to his doms.


	11. Chapter 11

Louis sat in Harry’s lap, wrapped tightly in a blanket as they waited in a private room in the police station. A few things were being sorted out about his running away attempt. Unfortunately it had to be put on his record. 

 

The one good thing was that he was not being charged with theft. Liam had asked Louis to give all the information about Zayn’s whereabouts that he knew of. Louis hated to rat Zayn out, but Harry and Nick had given him these looks...he needed them, which meant he had to go along with what they wanted for the time being. 

 

Now Liam was gone, off to try and find Zayn along with the private investigators he’d hired. The only information Louis could give was the time of the bus departure, which was helpful enough to give them a direction to head. The sub only hoped that Zayn, for his sake, would be safe whether he was found or not. 

 

Harry was rubbing the names on Louis’ arms. The stinging had faded completely now, but the names were still tender. Harry’s slender fingers emitted cool tingles over his skin, immediately putting Louis into a sense of calmness. 

 

His eyes were still quite red rimmed from crying so much, but now exhaustion had taken over. 

 

The door opened, causing both Louis and Harry to perk up as Nick entered. 

 

“We’re all set to go,” He smiled at them both, but Louis could sense how both tired and relieved the dom was….both of them, in fact.

 

“Come on Love,” Harry stood, keeping Louis in his arms. “You can sleep in the car.”

 

Louis did just that. Harry wound up driving, while Nick sat in the back with him. Louis used the dom’s lap as a pillow. All it took was Nick stroking his hair a few times before Louis dozed off in the car. 

 

When Louis next became aware, he was no longer in the car, but back in his own bed between Nick and Harry. The sunlight was peeking through the curtains of the master bedroom, and never before had Louis felt so relieved to be home. 

 

Nick, who was on his iPad, noticed he was awake. “Morning Kitten...well, more like evening. Did you have a good sleep?”

 

Louis rubbed his eyes blearily and nodded. “Y-Yeah, I did.”

 

“Harry’s bringing up some dinner.”

 

A few minutes later, Harry had brought up some homemade pizza muffins. Louis unabashedly ate five of them, all while his doms coddled him. Harry kissed the sauce from his mouth and Nick rubbed his feet. 

 

A few hours passed of simply laying in bed and cuddling. Louis expected them to bring up the running away, but neither one did. He wondered if perhaps they had missed him so much that no sort of discipline was needed. 

 

Louis fell asleep again, warm and content in between his doms, punishment drifting further and further from his mind. 

 

Unfortunately it turned out that the doms hadn’t pushed his punishment aside. They had just decided to push it back a little, to the next day.

 

After a quiet breakfast at the table, the doms had Louis sit still when he was finished eating. 

 

“We’re going to have to talk about this,” Nick said seriously. “Now Louis, the night you ran away was very unpleasant for the both of us. I admit that I took things too far with spanking you. Although you showed me disrespect, you were unstable because your friend was going through a hard time.”

 

“But then you ran away. When I couldn’t find you in the morning, I don’t think you realize how terrified I was. Harry was equally, if not more, distressed from this, especially when he was stuck in a different country and feeling even more helpless than I.”

 

Louis snuck a glance at Harry, who looked anguished, and immediately felt like crying himself. 

 

“Whether you and Nick had a disagreement or not, running away was not the answer to your problems,” Harry spoke. “In fact, it gave you a whole new list of problems. You were struggling, scared, and almost assaulted. It turns out that the poor excuse for a man who managed that motel was guilty of rape on three different accounts.”

 

Louis couldn’t resist a shudder at the memory of the awful man, and Nick automatically ran a hand through his hair to soothe him. 

 

“However,” Nick said. “We are both extremely proud that you made the choice to call us before things got too dangerous. You realized your mistake and willingly made things right again by your decision. But, the stolen credit card also needs to be taken into account. Zayn might have been the one to take it, but you still went along with the entire thing. You’ll lucky Liam didn’t press any charges.”

 

Louis was ashamed, unable to look at either dom. 

 

“Let’s summarize all of this. You left without permission, with the intent on running away. You also went with another sub, and you were the one to call him, not the other way around. You used the money of a dom that is not your own, and that money came from a credit card taken without his permission. You talked to strangers, stayed in a dangerous location, and you hurt both of your doms. Do you understand that, Louis? You hurt us.”

 

The tears came back. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking, I- I’m sorry!”

 

“I know you’re sorry,” Harry said soothingly, “But you’re still going to be punished.”

 

Louis was told that he had to kneel. 

 

The punishment of “kneeling” was exactly that. Louis was ordered by his doms to kneel at the foot of their bed, a single feathered pillow under his knees to keep them from bruising. 

 

“Not a single word out of you,” Nick told him. “Or any sort of movement. Stay still and show us the good boy that we know you can be.”

 

That had been right after he’d eaten breakfast, well over three hours ago. The first hour had been bearable. Louis had stayed occupied with his thoughts, filled mostly with remorse over the way he’d treated his doms, and fear over what Zayn was doing or where he was right now. 

 

As time passed, Louis felt lonely and his body ached from being in the same position for so long. He perked up when the bedroom door opened, thinking that his time was up. Much to the sub’s dismay, it was merely Nick grabbing and papers from the nightstand and leaving once again. 

 

The clock said that it was nearing noon, and Louis wanted to cry. He knew that this punishment was deserved, but at the same time all he wanted to do was snuggle up with his doms and be comforted, like yesterday.

 

Thirty minutes into noon, Harry came up with a sandwich and glass of milk. 

 

The dom smoothed a hand over his back. “You have fifteen minutes to eat, and then it’s back to kneeling, okay?”

 

Louis sagged to the floor in relief, taking his offered meal from Harry’s hands and smiling up at him.

 

“Thank you Hazza.”

 

Louis’ smile faded when the dom left without even a second glance. He ate his sandwich sullenly, even though he was no longer hungry for it. It only took him seven minutes instead of ten, so he set the empty plate and glass aside and went back to his kneeling position.

 

The door opened exactly three minutes later. It was Harry again, and he silently collected the dishes and left, closing the door behind him. 

 

Two hours later, Louis was beginning to feel hopeless. 

 

He chewed his lower lip in worry, wondering if he would be made to stay like this until nightfall. His legs tingled from being in the same position for so long, and his neck felt stiff. The sub absentmindedly rubbed at his soulmate names, trying to seek out any sort of comfort that he could. 

 

At three o’clock, Louis stared at the wall forlornly, cheeks wet with tears. He’d accidently broken the skin on his lip, the slight taste of blood filling his mouth. Irrational panic began to set. Why were his doms using this as a punishment? Didn’t they miss him so much when he was gone? Now they didn’t even want to be in the same room as him. What was going on?

 

The door opened once again, but Louis didn’t move an inch. He stayed kneeled with his head bowed down, just like he was supposed to. Because he was submitting. That was what they wanted, and so he was listening. He had been listening for more than five hours now. 

 

“Louis, you’re all done with kneeling.” Nick was right behind him. 

 

Apparently Harry was there too. “Baby, you can come up now.”

 

Louis tried to stand up, honest to god he did, but he’d lost the feeling in both of his legs from keeping them in the same position for so long. 

 

“C’mere love,” Nick helped him from the floor, holding him up. “Everything’s alright.”

 

Louis was quiet, all of his weight resting between his doms as he laid his head against Nick’s chest. He wanted to apologize for everything again, but he had already done so numerous times already. He wasn’t sure what his doms wanted, or how to redeem himself, so the sub could only do his best to obey. 

 

“We’re gonna go talk more, and eat the fruit platter I made,” Harry said, kissing his temple. 

 

When they got downstairs, Louis had to resist an eye roll at the extravagant platter set up in the living room, piled high with fruits of all shapes and sizes. That was the answer to how Harry had been occupying himself all day. 

 

“Now Louis, we know that kneeling is very difficult. The point of this punishment was to make you think about both your previous actions, and to think of being a sub. It was reflection, for the most part.”

 

“Okay,” Louis said quietly, nodding. He understood where they were coming from, and he had certainly done a lot of reflection. 

 

The doms both looked troubled. 

 

“Tell us what you’re thinking right now,” Harry asked of him. “What’s going on inside your beautiful mind?”

 

Louis took a deep breath, going straight for honesty. “I guess I just don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know what you want from me, in exchange for forgiveness.”

 

“You’re already forgiven,” Nick took his hand, kissing the top of it. “We only ask that you go back to being the good boy that we know you are. Things weren’t bad before this whole fiasco, yes? So let’s go back to that.”

 

Louis traced patterns on his trousers. “You’re not going to...um, put a tracking chip inside me or something?”

 

In the next moment, Harry was cupping his face so that he couldn’t look down. 

 

“Lovely,” The dom spoke firmly. “We would  _ never _ do that. Okay?”

 

“I-,” Louis swallowed. “Yeah, okay.”

 

“That’s something for subs who, well, aren’t willing to compromise. It’s usually a last resort, and even then some doms won’t do it. You won’t ever have to worry about that. Everything is forgiven now.”

 

“However, we do need to discuss a few more things. As of right now, you are no longer allowed access to the radio of the BBC. Harry and I haven’t decided if it’s permanent or not, but you and Zayn made the front page of the news. It’s...stirred up a lot of the public.”

 

Louis’ eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about how the public would react…”

 

“The damage is already done, which is why you’re off the radio now.”

 

Louis started crying silently again at that. He knew the punishment was deserved, but he really enjoyed the radio. He really hoped that the doms would allow him back on, in time if he proved himself. 

 

“Now Louis, there’s one last part of your punishment.” Nick said gravely, immediately putting the sub back on edge. “You’re to go into the kitchen. On the table, you’ll see an assortment of objects. We want you to pick one out and bring it back to us, alright?”

 

Louis wiped his eyes and nodded, a little confused as he headed for the kitchen.

 

When he got there, the sub was in for a horrific sight. 

 

There was a large wooden spoon, one of Harry’s sparkly leather belts, a rubber spatula, one of Nick’s flat slippers, a paddle, and a switch that looked like it was cut off from one of their bushes outside set on the table. 

 

These were all objects for spanking. 

 

They were going to  _ spank _ him! 

 

But not with a hand, like usual. They were going to use one of these terrible, frightening, painful objects on his backside. 

 

Louis trembled as he regarded the choices. For a split second he considered making a run for it, but running was what had gotten him into trouble in the first place. Harry and Nick just didn’t seem the type of doms to do this, which proved how much he’d upset them. 

 

But still, how could they do this to him?

 

Neither dom had told him to hurry, but Louis knew he was running out of time. He wondered which one the doms wanted him to choose? The slipper would perhaps be the least painful, compared to the spoon or the belt. The paddle looked terrifying, as did the spatula. 

 

Louis began to overthink the task. What if the doms wanted him to pick the most painful one? Or better yet, if he picked a more painful one, then what if he would be forgiven faster? 

 

He finally decided to go in the middle, pain wise, and take the belt. It shook in his grip, and the sub’s knuckles were white from gripping the belt so hard. 

 

Louis slowly dragged his feet back to the living room, where his doms were waiting patiently for him. 

 

“H-Here,” He held the belt out for them, surprised that he was able to get any words out at all. 

 

There was silence. 

 

“Thank you,” Harry accepted the belt from him. There was a small smile on the dom’s lips, and Louis was about to burst into tears. 

 

But then Harry tossed the belt to the ground, and he held out his arms instead. When Louis didn’t move, still in shock, the dom helped by pulling him into his lap and kissing his temple. 

 

“It was a test baby,” Nick informed him. “An obedience test. You did just what we asked, without any sort of protest. But darling, we would never use those on you, hm? Never! But you still did as we asked.”

 

“A test?” Louis repeated, cocking his head to the side. “You mean you’re not going to…”

 

“No,” Harry promised. “You showed us that we don’t have to, because you’re our good boy. Our beautiful, perfect, well-behaved boy.”

 

Those were the words Louis needed to hear. Even if things still didn’t feel all the way fixed, he was able to be consoled by his doms. He could behave himself, for now. Perhaps if he was really good, they would even give him his radio privileges back. 

 

Things would be okay. 


End file.
